Heart Of Friendship
by DarkWitch137
Summary: Lila is a childhood friend of Yugi's. When Yugi solves the Puzzle and the gang become involved with his numerous adventures, Lila is right by his and the Pharaoh's side. Along the way she helps him save his Grandpa, battle Rare Hunters, is trapped in a virtual world and travels to Egypt. She grows closer to the Pharaoh, wanting to help him anyway she can but can she say goodbye?
1. 01 The Heart Of The Cards

**_Disclaimer - I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters, it is the property of Kazuki Takahashi. And 4Kids for the dub, which is what I'm working with for the transcripts because that's the version I grew up with. Though I will admit, I will be having the characters have actual hormones, something they all seem lacking in the dub. All I own is my OC Lila. And any OCs I put in._**

_**Yes this story has an OC in it and yes she is paired with Yami Yugi/Atem so if you don't like Yami and OC pairings, this may not be for you. Also this is slow build because I'm going with the show episodes. I'll do like an episode a chapter, but if it's a two part episode where the majority of the episode it taken up by a duel, I'll probably just make a slightly longer chapter and have both episodes in one. As the series progresses and we get like four episode long duels, that may change and that might be two chapters,depending on what else happens in the episode.**_

_**Now as scenes that my OC isn't in won't change, like flashbacks or scenes showing other characters, I won't be writing those, which will shorten chapters and anyone whose seen the show is pretty familiar with how those scenes play out. Also I apologise for every abridged reference, especially in the earlier chapters, I've been watching it lately and it kind of spilt into my writing. I have a deck for my OC ready made, also my OC's favourite monster, Dark Witch, is my favourite too and since Joey's Flame Swordsman gets special treatment in it's summoning, for the purpose of this fic, consider Dark Witch level four not level five so she can be summoned without a sacrifice. Sorry if this annoys anyone but that's what I'm doing. Also, mistakes the show makes with cards, I'm not sure and will decide when I get to them but I may keep some in. For example Tea using Magic Formula on Maha Vialo when it can only be used on Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl.**_

_**Oh and sorry if I use any cards released after the series ended, I'm not the best on knowing when what cards came out but if I have, there probably aren't many. There are no tuners, synchro, pendulum, Xyz or link monsters, or cards that specifically mention them, that's all I can promise.**_

_**Now the the long note and disclaimer out of the way, trust me I will try not to put others in, and if I do they will not be this long.**_

_**Enjoy**_

* * *

One - The Heart of the Cards

"Hey Joey! Earth to Joey!" Yugi prompts with a chuckle "Hey are you in there? It's your turn." Lila smiles softly to herself as she watches her blonde, poofy haired friend staring intently at the cards in his hand. Yugi glances to the long haired brunette, noticing her relaxed pose, with how she isn't even looking at her own hand as she waits for Joey to figure out what he's going to do. Another member of the group, a pointy haired brunette boy, slides up behind Joey and wraps an arm around his neck, shocking the boy out of his concentration.

"Aw isn't he cute when he's thinking?" Lila chuckles softly to herself at the antics of the two boys, shaking her head to herself.

"Hey Tristan, Yugi and Lila here are teaching me to play Duel Monsters," Joey explains as he lifts his hand to show the cards to Tristan, who blinks at them in confusion saying "Drooling monsters?"

"Duel Monsters ya nimrod," Joey snaps back, shoving Tristan to the side, over to where the final member of their group is stood watching Lila and Joey. Tristan shakes himself off as he joins the smiling Tea to watch what's happening.

"They've been at it for hours," Tea explains as Joey goes back to focusing on his move "Joey's starting to get the hang of it but Yugi and Lila are like a pair of experts, you should see them duel each other."

"Okay Lila. It's time to duel," Joey summons a warrior in attack mode, as Tea explains the basic rules of the game to Tristan, who is frowning as he tries to figure out what's going on "Pretty good move, huh Lila?" Lila nods with a small smile as she draws a card and lifts her hand to take another look at all of her cards. It only takes her a moment to make her move.`

"Sure, pretty good move. But," Lila plays her Command Knight "Since my monster, who is a warrior herself, has the ability to raise the attack of all my warrior monsters by four hundred points, her attack is raised to sixteen hundred."

"What?!" Joey slams his hands on the table as he looks from Lila's monster to his own "Thanks a lot. A card that powerful totally wipes me out." Lila laughs softly to herself when Joey starts pouting and Tristan starts his teasing again with "Whoa you suck at this game."

"Nah, you did fine Joey. Lila just has better cards. See, my Grandpa owns a game shop and we get all our best cards from him," Yugi explains as Lila takes her cards back and reshuffles her deck as he steps forward to take Joey's seat across from her. Joey stares for a moment, then he shoots up out of his seat and leans over to Yugi.

"Your own game shop? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Joey declares dramatically, making Lila roll her eyes fondly at his antics. So excitable that one.

"How about after Yugi and I have our duel? That way you can see a more even match up," Lila suggests as Yugi sits across from her. Joey thinks for a moment then shrugs, sitting on one of the tables next to theirs so he can watch with the others.

"Hey maybe I can get my Grandpa to show us this super rare cards he's got," Yugi suggests to the group who nod in excitement. Lila smiles, she already knows what card Yugi is talking about but it's always a treat to see it since his Grandpa doesn't really like to show it off. The group teeter off the talk of the card shop for a while as they watch Yugi make his first move, not noticing that one of their classmates has heard their not exactly quiet exchange.

Kaiba glances up from his book and over at the group of friends._ Rare card, _he thinks _Could they have found the card I've been searching for?_

* * *

"Grandpa? I'm home," Yugi calls as he steps through the door of the game shop that doubles as the front entrance to the house. His Grandpa is waiting behind the counter, smiling when he sees the group that has accompanied the tri colour haired boy.

"And I see you've brought company, good to see you again Lila," the brunette smiles and raises a hand in greeting as she takes the chance to look around the shop merchandise to see if anything catches her eye. While she's happy with her deck, there's no reason she can't see if she can improve. Besides, she got her allowance a few days ago and she doesn't have anything else she wants to spend it on, and Yugi's Grandpa gives her a discount since she helps out on weekends with Yugi. Of course it isn't just Duel Monsters cards they sell, there is plenty of other games and gaming memorabilia to look at.

"Gramps, could you show my friends your awesome, super rare card?"

"Rare card? My special card?" he hums and eyes the group, watching as Yugi slaps his hands together and Joey bows as they say "Please! Please!" and "Pretty please?" respectively. He looks over the group with mock seriousness before he laughs and smiles "How could I refuse?" He reaches under the counter and takes out a small brown box as the group crowd around "You kids are in for a treat. I don't take this card out too often. Ready?" Here it is," he holds up a card, showing them the pictured image of a stunning white dragon "The Blue-Eyes White Dragon, so rare, so powerful, I never let it leave my hand." While the rest of the group look at the card in awe, Tristan is less them impressed. He reaches forward and carelessly takes the card, causing Yugi's Grandpa to let out a sound of horror.

"It doesn't look all that special to me," he says bluntly. Lila slams her fist into the back of Tristan's head, carefully and quickly taking the card back. As she returns it, she shoots Tristan a glare as he rubs the quickly forming lump on his head, his expression sheepish as he winces occasionally.

"What is wrong with you?" Lila scolds the pointy haired boy.

"This card is priceless," he declares as he curls protectively around his card "There are only four of them in the whole world."

"Speaking of priceless, I'm ready to trade!" Joey grins as he leans forwards eagerly, making Lila facepalm.

"Not for this card."

"Huh? Nah, I didn't mean that card. I meant, show me some other cool cards to get my started," he clarifies as he looks over the other cards on display. Before Mr Muto can respond, the shop door opens, the bell jingling and everyone turns as Yugi's Grandpa gives his greeting "Hello, can I help you?"

"If you can't, it certainly wouldn't surprise me," Kaiba responds snidely as he glances around the shop, unimpressed.

"Doesn't he have a big fancy company to run? What's he doing down here?"

"Yeah, you'd think a child billionaire would have better things to do," Lila remarks as she leans back against the counter, frowning as she eyes her tall classmate suspiciously. He smirks and shrugs, saying "Not that it's any of your business, but I came to see the card." Lila's frown deepens while Joey smiles and steps towards Kaiba.

"Hey, are you into Duel Monsters too? This is perfect. Maybe we could all duel together sometimes," Kaiba steps into the shop properly, letting the door close behind him as she slowly walks over to the group.

"Me? Duel you? I'd have more of a challenge playing solitaire."

"What?"

"I am the number one ranked duellist in the country and the favourite to win the Duel Monsters championship. Hah, you wouldn't last two minutes in a duel against me," Kaiba brags, making Lila scoff.

"And such a winning personality," Kaiba pays no mind to Lila or to Joey when, with clenched fists, the blonde snaps "Ooh, I'm shaking. Maybe you'd like to settle this with fists instead of cards." Lila sighs while Yugi and Tristan step in front of their quick tempered friend.

"Whoa! Take it easy Joey."

"But Yugi, Kaiba's asking for it."

"Now does this shop have any worthwhile cards or not?" it's then that Kaiba notices the card Mr Muto is putting back into it's box. He lurches forward, pushing everyone out of the way to get to the front counter "Can it be? The Blue-Eyes White Dragon in a dump like this?"

"Rude!" Lila snaps "Manners cost nothing, so _you _have no excuse!" However Kaiba is too lost in his thoughts to hear Lila's scolding, let alone care.

"Well, enough window shopping," Yugi's Grandpa puts the cover back on the small box and picks it up to store it away again "Is there anything else I can help you with?" As the card is taken away, Kaiba growls, his face scrunching up. He lifts his briefcase and slams it onto the counter, making everyone flinch. There is a loud snap as Kaiba opens the case, spinning it around too quickly for Lila to see what's inside. What ever it is, it gets Yugi's Grandpa excited. _Maybe it's Black Luster Soldier, _Lila thinks with a mental laugh.

"Listen to me, old man. Give me your Blue-Eyes White Dragon card and I'll trade you all of these," there is a chorus of shocked noises from the rest of the group as Lila peeks around to have a look. Her eyes widen at the sight of the briefcase full of rare cards. Some she recognises, others she has never seen before. Kaiba stands there, waiting for Mr Muto to accept. Unfortunately, he doesn't get the answer he wants.

"Ah, very nice. But no thanks," he says, putting the small box out of the way. Kaiba growls angrily as he moves the case out of the way and leans over the counter "Fine. If you won't trade, maybe you'll sell it. Name your price. I can pay anything you ask."

"I'm sure you could. But this card is worth more then you could ever offer. Not because of it's power or because it's so rare, but because of what it means to me," he explains with a smile, no doubt remembering "This card was given to me by a dear friend and so I treasure this card as I do that friend. So parting with it is completely out of the question."

"No!"

"You'd feel the same even if it were a common card, right Grandpa?" Yugi pipes up. His Grandpa nods, smiling down at the rare card "Exactly. You see this precious card has bonded with my heart." Kaiba scoffs, slamming the briefcase closed.

"Fine! I've heard enough of your nonsense," he takes the case and spins on his heels, taking his leave of the shop as the group stares after him "Senile old fool." Mr Muto shakes his head and turns back to the group. The five teenagers take their time, Tea and Tristan even deciding to get a deck each to give the game a go, all the while Joey rummages around for new cards of his own. Tea frowns as she looks over some monsters, unsure what to pick. Luckily Lila is there to offer help. Yugi and Lila stand to one side, smiling to one another, glad to share their favourite game with their friends, though, as always, Yugi can tell something is bothering the short girl.

"What's wrong Lila?" he asks, putting a hand on the girl's arm, his large, amethyst eyes lit up with concern.

"It's Kaiba," the brunette explains as she leans against the wall, arms crossed over her chest "He was pretty determined to get the Blue-Eyes from your Grandpa. I doubt he's willing to accept 'no' for an answer. Just..." she turns to the wild haired boy "Just tell him to be careful okay?" Yugi nods, giving her a comforting smile to try and cheer her up.

* * *

After school the next day, the group is back on the way to the shop, Joey and Tea both are eager to try out some new cards. Meanwhile, Lila has a decently thick book open, her moss green eyes focused on the pages as, with Yugi's help, she follows the group.

"Hey Lila, how come you're starting on that homework already? It's not due for weeks yet," Joey asks, arms crossed behind his head as he walks along beside her. Lila shrugs, turning the page, only half paying attention to what is going on around her. Yugi looks up at her, smiling brightly. Lila's only this eager to get started on her book report because she was allowed to pick one of her own books to do it on. Plus Lila has always been a bit of a bookworm.

"Okay Gramps, I'm back to get more cards," Joey calls as they get to the shop and Yugi opens the door to reveal a dark filled shop "Hey, hey Gramps!"

"Grandpa, I'm home," Yugi calls out, the emerging worry clear in his voice as he looks around the empty shop. Lila looks up, putting her book away as she glances around.

"Maybe he... went out?" Tea suggests as they all pile into the shop, but Lila shakes her head and voices her observations "No, it looks like he never finished opening up this morning. And wasn't the door unlocked?" Lila looks to Joey, who nods with a deep frown. Everyone concerned about the missing shop owner. However before they get a chance to look around some more, the store landline starts to ring.

"Hello. Game shop," Yugi says into the receiver as Lila leans closer to overhear what is being said on the other end.

"Ah, Yugi. Perfect," Lila's fists clench.

"Kaiba?!"

"Your grandfather's here visiting. But he's nod feeling well. Why don't you come by my office and pick him up," there's an amused edge to Kaiba's voice that makes it obvious there is something Kaiba isn't saying, but he hangs up without saying more, even when Yugi shouts down the line "Kaiba! What have you done Kaiba?!"

* * *

The group runs out of the elevator, Lila and Joey shoving the security personal as they follow Yugi, heading right to the crumpled form of his Grandpa. The two shortest teenagers fall to their knees. Lila helps to prop the old man up as Yugi asks "Grandpa, a-are your okay?"

"Yugi. I failed. I wanted to teach that Kaiba boy a lesson about the heart of the cards, but I lost," he groans and leans heavily against Lila.

"Grandpa!" there is a whooshing sound as one of the many doors open. Kaiba smirks at the group, not stepping from the doorway as he says "How's the old man feeling, hmmm?" Lila glares angrily, the only reason she doesn't punch that arrogant look off his face is because she is the only thing keeping Mr Muto up.

"Kaiba, you sleaze. What've you done to him?" Joey snaps, standing behind Yugi and Lila.

"We had a duel, that's all," Kaiba shrugs, not bothered by the groups anger "With each of us putting up our most valuable cards as the prize. But I guess playing against a champion like myself was just too much stimulation for the old fool." Kaiba chuckles condescendingly.

"Kaiba, you should be ashamed of yourself."

"It was fair," Kaiba shrugs and takes out the Blue-Eyes card "And look at the sweet prize I won." He then proceeds to tear the card in two. Everyone gasps.

"Grandpa's most treasured card!"

"Yes, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a rare and powerful card and this one will never be used against me."

"By that logic, why don't you go and tear up every card in the whole world?" Lila snaps, making Kaiba drop his smirk and instead turns his glare on the girl. Mr Muto grips Lila's blue blazer to pull himself up and turn to Kaiba, reaching a hand out "Ahh, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon. My treasure." He cringes in pain and his body curls in on itself as he falls back into the girl.

"Grandpa!" Yugi exclaims in fright, placing a hand on the old man's back before he looks up and gives Kaiba his best attempt at a glare, Lila just doesn't have the heart to tell him it just makes him look like and angry puppy "How could you do such a thing?"

"Yugi, here," the old man pushes himself up once more and holds his deck out towards his grandson "Take this."

"Huh? Grandpa?" Yugi and Lila look down, surprised.

"I built this deck. I put my soul in these cards. And I taught you everything I know, Yugi. Take them. Take my cards and teach him respect. Teach Kaiba respect for the heart of the cards, Yugi."

"But Grandpa, you need help," Yugi shakes his head "I've got to get you to a doctor."

"That sounds like an excuse," Kaiba taunts as he steps forwards "Your friends can care for your grandfather while you and I duel... unless you're afraid?" Yugi grits his teeth, torn between the challenge and worry for his Grandpa.

"Take him Yugi!" Joey encourages making the two crouched teens turn to look at him "We can take care of your Grandpa while you take care of creepy Kaiba. Teach that rich, spoiled brat what a real duel's all about," Lila places a hand on his shoulder to make him meet her green eyes "For your Grandpa, Yugi."

"I don't know..."

"Trust me, you're the best player I've ever seen, and you've got the Millennium Puzzle. You can do this Yugi! I know you can!"

"We all do," Tea pipes up. At their encouragement, Yugi nods and takes the deck "Okay Grandpa. I'll do it."

"I know you will my boy."

The group huddles together as Tea pulls out a thick black marker pen and says "Everyone put your hands together and I'll mark us with a special sign." Everyone puts their hands in the middle and Tea draws on them, Lila's face scrunching a little as she tilts her head to the side. She won't admit it, but it takes her a few embarrassingly long moments for her to realise it's a smiley face. Long enough for her to miss the exchange between Tea and Joey.

As the paramedics load Mr Muto, Tea pulls Joey and Lila to the side.

"Tristan and I will take Yugi's Grandpa to the hospital. Why don't you two get back there and cheer Yugi on?" Lila nods and turn on her heels to run back into the building.

* * *

Lila gets to the arena in time to see Kaiba's monster appear on the field. Her eyes widen at the sight. What the-

"He's brought the monster on the card to life," a deep voice exclaims in shock. Lila frowns and looks in the voice's direction. That's not the Yugi she's use to seeing. For one, he's taller, he's now taller then she is. His face is also more sharp and angular, not to mention confidant, more suiting of his new voice. But then... this isn't the first time she's seen Yugi like this.

"It's my virtual simulator. It creates life-like holograms of every monster," Kaiba gloats. Lila blinks, as exciting as that makes the game, this has got to be a little over the top.

"So this is how you beat my grandfather," the taller Yugi reasons "Well now it's my turn. I call on the Winged Dragon-Guardian of the Fortress." As the blue dragon appears, Joey catches up with Lila.

"Whoa, monster! Real monsters!" Joey glances at Lila, who shakes her head and gives the blonde a quick explanation as they watch Yugi's monster attack, causing the green giant to shatter. Then a short boy with long, raven hair runs to the arena, shouting "Big brother!" Joey and Lila cheer for their friend.

"Hah. Well played Yugi... for a beginner. But how will you deal with this?"

"Saggi the Dark Clown? But that card has hardly any attack strength."

"True your Winged Dragon's attack is fourteen hundred, while my Dark Clown's is only six hundred, but if I combine it with this card..."

"A magic card!"

"Exactly. The Negative Energy Generator. It multiplies my monster's attack by three. Dark Clown attack with Dark Light!" Yugi's monster shatters like Kaiba's did. Lila's fists clench on the rail surrounding the arena as Yugi looks down at his cards, his expression worried. Placing the next card in defence, it's clear to everyone that he doesn't have any other options. However Kaiba is quick to destroy that monster too.

"Hang in there Yugi!" Joey calls.

"You're not fairing any better then the old man did," Kaiba mocks "Your deck is just as weak and feeble as your grandfather."

"My grandfather is a great man, and a better duellist then you'll ever be. He entrusted me with his cards and I can feel his heart in the deck. I doubt you have that kind of faith in your cards, Kaiba," Yugi draws then smirks "And my faith rewards me with Gaia the Feirce Knight! With a desctructive power of twenty three hundred." The knight on the purple steed easily destroys Kaiba's clown. _Good move, _Lila thinks with a smile, letting out a sigh of relief while Joey cheers loudly. But all the brunette needs is to glance over at Kaiba to see how unfazed he is. _That's not good._

"Hah. This'll be over sooner then you think," Kaiba draws "I call on the Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Lila's jaw drops and her eyes widen as she leans further on the railing. So beautiful. The luminous white scales may be holographic, it doesn't make it any less stunning.

"Impossible! We all watched Kaiba tear that card in half."

"Surprised? Did you think your grandfather was the only one to possess a Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" it then proceeds to destroy Gaia, dropping Yugi's life points to nine hundred "Your Fierce Knight is destroyed. Faith or no faith, you will fall before my superior monsters, Yugi. Power is what this game is about, you fool. Faith is for losers... like your pathetic grandfather. In your entire deck, there's not a single card that can stand up to a Blue-Eyes White Dragon," he holds up a card "So what hope do you have against two," a second white dragon appears "Why don't you just admit defeat, Yugi?"

"I won't give up. Grandpa's counting on me," he draws "Huh, a magic card. Swords of Revealing Light! It stops all monsters on the field for three turns." Glowing swords appear, surrounding the dragons.

"How desperate. What possible good will a three turn delay do you?"

_He's right. What do I do? I can't figure out what to do with these cards. They're just a bunch of... pieces, _Yugi frowns at his hand _How can I use them to battle an expert like Kaiba? _Lila and Joey glance at each other in concern. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Lila looks back to the field. Yugi may be the best duellist she knows, but she can't see a way out of this for him.

"Quit your stalling, Yugi. Or will you be forced to forfeit the match."

"I never forfeit," he draws and looks to his full hand "Huh? Another piece of the puzzle."

"Draw any card you like, it won't change a thing. My dragons may be frozen for another two turns, but my new monster is under no such spell. The Judge Man, with an attack power of twenty two hundred," Yugi's defence monster is destroyed. Yugi draws.

"I can attack with the Dark Magician. But he won't stand a chance once Kaiba's dragons are free of my spell," the tall, purple clad spellcaster appears, making Lila smile. It's Yugi's favourite monster "Dark Magician... attack!" the monster is destroyed "Judge Man falls." Kaiba scoffs as he draws, completely unbothered as his life points drop.

"Ahh, a sacrifice that doesn't even phase me. And though neither of my dragons can move for one more turn, my next card is... the third Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"N-No way," Lila steps back, shaking her head "He has three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. That's insane!" She watches as the dragon destroys Yugi's magician, leaving him with only four hundred life points.

"So tell me, Yugi, how's your faith now? On my next turn, all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons are free to attack. This game's over no matter what card you draw. You can't possible stand against my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. It's over, Yugi. You were never a match for me."

"Don't listen, Yugi!"

_Kaiba had three Blue-Eyes White Dragons all along. He only wanted my Grandpa's card so it couldn't be used against him. My only chance now is to assemble all the pieces of Exodia. But the odds are against me. I don't think I can do this, _he reaches to the deck to draw what is likely to be his final card, but in his mind, he sees the cards moving away from him _The deck! It senses my doubt._

_Don't lose focus, Yugi. Don't lost faith. Concentrate! _The ink on his hand catches Yugi's eye and he tilts his hand to see it better _Our friendship symbol! _Then he looks up and sees his friends standing next to the deck.

"Yugi, we're right here with you," Tea encourages with a smile.

"Yugi, you've got to believe in yourself."

"You can do it. Just kick Kaiba's butt."

"We all believe in you," Lila beams, her hands clasped at her chest "We always believe in you!" Yugi smiles, looking at each of them _They're right. I've got to believe in the cards like my friends believe in me. _As he rests his fingers on the deck to draw, he imagines each of his friends placing their hands over his to help him draw.

"Draw your last pathetic card so I can end this, Yugi."

"My Grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba. But it does contain," he holds the card up to his opponent "the unstoppable Exodia!"

"Impossible!" Kaiba exclaims, recoiling. Lila however, cheers loudly, taking a confused Joey's hands as she jumps up and down in excitement.

"I've assembled all five special cards. All five pieces of the puzzle," a large glowing blue star appears on the field and everyone watches as piece by piece, Exodia emerges from the star.

"Exodia! It's not possible! No ones ever been able to call him!"

"Exodia obliterate!" Yugi yells out his attack. An orange light appears in Exodia's hands and is fired at Kaiba, completely destroying all three dragons and throwing Kaiba back, leaving him shaking.

"You did it! Yugi, you won!"

"This can't be," Lila looks over to the black haired boy who is staring at the empty field in complete shock at the outcome "My brother never loses."

"You play only for power, Kaiba, and that is why you lost. But if you put your heart in the game, there is nothing you can't do."

"But... but how? How could I have lost to him?"

"Kaiba, if you really want to know... " a glowing eye appears on Yugi's forehead "...open your mind!" he throws his hand out palm forward and Lila watches as... something happens to Kaiba, making the tall boy cry out then fall to his knees "There Kaiba, maybe now you will being to see..."

* * *

Lila quietly closes the door to Mr Muto's room behind her as she steps out, smiling to Yugi as she puts a finger to her lips to let him know the old man is sleeping. The two teens move out of the hallway and into the boy's room, where a second bed has been set up.

"Thanks again for staying to help keep and eye on Grandpa, you sure you won't get in trouble? I know how your dad gets," Lila waves him off.

"No worries, to be honest, I think my dad forgets you're a boy," she mentally smirks as she puts a finger on her chin and adopts a mock thoughtful expression "Though that could be because I've never mentioned all those chats between you and Joey about those magazines and videos I'm not suppose to know about," the boy's face explodes with a red and Lila bursts out laughing as he tries to splutter out excuses "Relax, remember I have on older _and _younger brother."

"Right, is Tomas back home already?"

"No. Last time I spoke to him, he had started working with an archaeology professor," she chuckles, laying back on the bed "It's all he talks about." The two carry on talking for a while, until Yugi lets out a loud yawn, making Lila look to him with concern "Sweetie you've had a tiring day, you should get some sleep. I'm a light sleeper so I'll be here if anything happens." Yugi nods before yawning a second time. He climbs under the covers as Lila switches off the light and gives on last smile as she bids him goodnight.


	2. 02 The Gauntlet Is Thrown

_**Just to say, after chapter nine, uploads may be bi-weekly instead of weekly since for some reason, when I was trying to open up my newer chapters to go through and make sure there was nothing I wanted to change in them, all the files were blank so I need to re-write them all, fingers crossed I can keep to the weekly updates but if there is any delay, that's the reason.**_

* * *

Two - The Gauntlet is Thrown

"Joey, make a move already," Tristan nudges the blonde who is once again sat across from a smiling Lila, staring at his hand as their friends watch. Yugi is perched at Lila's side, watching with a bright smile, knowing that despite Joey's constant challenges, he still has a long way to go before he is likely to beat Lila.

"Okay, here you go tough guy. My Rock Ogre's gonna rock your block off."

"And all I have is this little cutie," Lila plays her Relinkuriboh in attack mode and Tea coos over the cute monster shown on the card.

"Yeah, Lila. Like that wimpy card has a chance against my giant rock guy. Give it up!" Joey attempts to taunt, but Lila's smile doesn't drop as she plays a magic card below her monster.

"Huh? United We Stand?" What's that do?" Joey turns to look at Yugi in question.

"It raises a monster's attack by eight hundred for every face up monster on the owner's field," Yugi explains, resting his hand on his chin as Joey blinks at him.

"It powers up my little guy enough to beat your monster. And each time I summon a new monster, Relinkuriboh will just keep getting stronger," Lila folds her arms and leans back in her seat as Tristan laughs and says "You stink at this game." Joey groans and his head drops while Lila shoots Tristan a scolding look.

* * *

After classes are finished for the day, Joey, Yugi and Lila are hanging out, Joey leaning against the bar that Yugi and Lila are sitting on, watching as the cars drive past. Joey sighs and looks to the two who are pulling at each other's hair and laughing "Tristan's right, guys. I do stink," the two stop and look over to Joey, "I can't win at Duel Monsters to save my life. What is it, guys? Why can't I ever win? Teach me what I'm doing wrong." Yugi hops down and turns to Joey with his hand out.

"Well, let's start by checking your deck, Joey," Lila slides along to peek over Yugi's shoulder as Joey hands over his cards. They both frown as Yugi flips through the deck, both of them spotting the problem pretty quickly.

"Powerhouse liner, don't you think?" Joey's proud tone makes Lila wince, he's going to be so disappointed when they tell him.

"No one can win with these," Yugi says with a small cringe "Joey, your deck's filled with nothing but monster cards."

"You got it, I packed it with every butt-kicking monster I could find."

"But that's not how the game works," Lila explains, making Joey turn his attention to her "In Duel Monsters you want to combine your monsters with magic cards. Remember how I powered up a weaker monster to beat you?" Joey nods "Magic cards can really turn the tide." Yugi nods in agreement.

"With no magic in your deck, your monsters will be creamed every time."

"See?" Joey grabs Yugi's shoulders "That's the kind of stuff I need to know! Yugi, you've got to help me learn more!"

"Umm..."

* * *

"My Grandpa's the real game expert in the family, maybe he can help you," Yugi explains as the trio gets to the game shop. Lila smiles as she pushes the door open and spots Mr Muto putting up a poster of a Black Luster Soldier and a Harpie's Pet Dragon. She chuckles and yells out "New poster of your boyfriend." Mr Muto turns and rolls his eyes at Lila's running joke about him and the Black Luster Soldier. She's been making them since she he first started selling Duel Monsters cards so he's more then use to them by now. And he has to admit, they are pretty funny.

"Hey Grandpa," Yugi greats with a wide smile "I brought you a new student."

"Huh, student?" Mr Muto then realises there is a third teenager present, other then his grandchild and the girl who is as good as.

"I was hoping, since you know more about Duel Monsters than anyone, maybe you'd teach me."

"Teach you? Duel monsters is a very complex game," Mr Muto crosses his arms across his chest and looks the blond high schooler up and down with a light frown.

"Yeah. Tell me about it. Tea beat me three times in a row and Lila like a dozen more times then that."

"Actually Tea beat you five times in a row," Yugi pipes up unhelpfully, making Lila chuckle into her hand at the look on Joey's face as he bursts out with "Five. Aw man!"

"Hmmm. Yes. I could teach you to be a great tournament duellist. But only if you're willing to spend endless days and sleepless nights filled with rigorous training."

"Peice of cake," Joey shrugs it off making Yugi's Grandpa narrow his eyes at the blonde, unimpressed by his blase attitude, snapping "With an attitude like that, teaching you may not be worth my effort." Joey winces and Yugi face palms while Lila takes a step back to watch with a little chuckle.

"Nice going there, smart mouth!" Yugi scolds, making Joey fall to his knees and begging the shorter boy "Please, Yugi. Help me convince him. I will work hard, I promise!" Yugi looks up at Lila who throws him a quick wink, the two coming up with a similar idea pretty quickly.

"Listen, Joey. Teaching you Duel Monsters is too big a challenge, even for my grandpa," he throws Lila a sly smile who nods and adds on with "Yeah it's going to be pretty much impossible, even for him." Yugi has to resist the urge to laugh at the look that appears on his Grandpa's face at the hinted slight against his skills as a teacher.

"Hmmm... It's not impossible," he looks at the trio and Joey quickly perks up and turns to the old man "Huh? You mean it, Gramps?" A bright hopeful look, spreads across the poofy haired boy's face, making Lila smile as Yugi continues on with the little scheme to convince his grandfather.

"Joey, he already said he can't do it. And if he can't do it, he can't do it," Yugi shrugs.

"I never said I couldn't do it," he says in a drawn out manner "But if I agree, you must work hard."

"I'll do anything, I promise. I promise!"

"Fine, then we'll begin your instruction immediately, my young friend. And believe me, under my tutelage, you will learn. Now, can you name the most powerful Duel Monster?" Joey just gives him a blank look.

"Uhhh... No?"

"Depends if you're talking attack power, defence power or the power of it's effect," Lila points out, giving her still kneeling friend a smile so he knows the question is harder then it sounds. Mr Muto nods and then turns back to Joey, asking a follow up question "Can you name the weakest?"

"...No," Joey looks to Lila, waiting for her to pipe up once again.

"I'd say Wretched Ghost In The Attic, similar attack to Kuriboh but doesn't have the effects. But it's so adorable that I can't really say anything bad about it," Lila shrugs, making Mr Muto chuckle softly to himself "Besides, some people, like Tea prefer the cuter monsters so it's not like they have no value." Mr Muto nods again before turning to Joey with a frown and asking one last question "You do know what a trap card is, don't you?"

"Kinda..." Joey lies but then can't maintain it "Uhh, I have no idea."

* * *

"Good evening duel fans and our ten million viewers at home, and welcome to the Duel Monsters Duel Dome, where tonight, the Duel Monsters Regional Championship will be decided. Of the two hundred duellists who have competed in this marathon tournament, only two competitors remain standing. Put your cards together for Weevil Underwood, the Bug Brawler. His opponent, the number one ranked, Rex Raptor, Dino Duellist," the announcer on the television announces as the group watches, sitting in Yugi's living room, Yugi, Joey and Lila sitting on the sofa with Tea and Tristan on the ottoman's on either side.

"Bug Boy versus Dinosaur Man, what kind of match is that? That should've been me in there!"

"I know you've been training for weeks, but those guys are in another league. You're just not ready yet."

"Sure rub it in," Joey pouts. Lila reaches around Yugi's shoulders to rub Joey's shoulder comfortingly with a small smile as she says "You've been doing great Joey but you're just not there yet, sweetie."

"And on top of that, you're so tired you can't keep your eyes open," as Yugi says that, Joey leans back with his eyes closed and a soft snoring sound comes from him, making Lila chuckle softly "I think Grandpa's lessons have been a bit too tough for him."

"See, it's true what they say," Tristan says quietly as he leans closer to Joey's ear, then loudly finishes with "You snooze, you lose." Joey growls as he is shocked back awake, making Lila lean across the two boys, a blush exploding across Yugi's face as it makes Lila's rear end up close to his face, and Lila slaps Tristan around the back of his head, making the pointy haired boy pout as he sits back down. This makes Tea laughs while Lila returns to her feet tucked under her legs position on the sofa and she looks to Yugi in question at the blush.

"I must've been nuts to think I could ever learn this crazy game," Joey's head drops. Mr Muto then walks into the room, carrying a box, he looks over at the group and says to Joey "Time for your lesson!"

"Wha-? We're not done?"

"Not by a long shot, you slacker," Mr Muto chuckles as he comes over to the teenagers "Now quit your whining, Joseph. I know you've been working long and hard, but you really are coming along as a duellist. And I'm quite proud of you." He gives the blond an encouraging smile.

"Gramps," Joey looks to the old man with water brown, puppy eyes "Thank you!" He reaches forward to pull the man into a hug but Mr Muto neatly sidesteps it and he turns to his grandson "Oh, by the way, Yugi," Joey over balances due to his attempted hug and ends up falling flat on his face "This package came for you."

"A package? What is it, Gramps?" Yugi asks, taking the box and looking at it curiously.

"I don't know. It just came in the mail," Yugi sits back and places the package in his lap, Lila leaning over his shoulder, wanting to look at the package, along with the rest of the group "Huh. It's from Industrial Illusions."

"Industrial Illusions!" Joey hops back onto the sofa "That's the company that makes the Duel Monsters game. Why the heck would they be sending a package to you, Yugi?"

"I don't know," the spiky haired teen frowns as he looks at the package.

"Maybe they heard you beat Kaiba, I mean he is the world champion?" Lila suggests, making Tea frown.

"What do you mean is? Didn't Yugi winning mean Yugi's the new world champ?"

"Not technically," Lila shrugs and Joey looks at her confused as he looks between her and Yugi, who nods and explains "It wasn't an official match so technically it doesn't take away Kaiba's title. Though, he did drop out of the tournament because of me." As he says this, he thinks back to how his duel against the tall brunette ended.

"Just hearing Kaiba's name gives me a headache," Joey complains.

"Whoa guys, Raptor just stomped Weevil," Tristan declares, making the group turn their attention back to the match shown on screen.

"Yugi, are these guys any good?"

"Oh yeah. They're both pretty tough customers. Weevil specialises in insect cards and he's a great strategist. Then you've got Rex Raptor and his dinosaur cards. He uses their power to overwhelm his opponents."

"Itsy-bitsy bugs against duelling dinosaurs? Raptor has got this one in the bag."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"Yeah Joey. Remember, a monster's raw power isn't everything. If anything a strategy is more important then strength, think about all the times I've beaten you because I know how to work my monsters effects and play them off against each other, not to mention my magic and trap cards, while you've just relied on straight up attacking," Joey gets a thoughtful look and nods then turns his attention more fully to the two professionals competing. Though the duel doesn't really hold Lila's interest, she prefers playing the game to watching it unless she's there to cheer on her friends.

Raptor has his winged purple dinosaur on the field, the Two Headed King Rex being his signature and gloats to his opponent who just chuckles and plays a much weaker monster to the field.

"He plays a wimpy bug against a giant dinosaur? The place'll be covered in bug guts."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't underestimate Weevil." Lila nods, leaning back in the sofa and reaching for her glass, frowning when she realises it's empty. But as she moves to get up, Yugi just hands her his, which she takes with a smile, glad she doesn't have to move since she knows the first chance he gets, Tristan will steal her seat. He always does. When Rex declares his attack, to which Lila rolls her eyes because it was so predictable, Weevil uses his trap card and is able to stop the attack, coupled with a decent amount of taunting, Lila has come to expect with these professional matches. Weevil follows by powering up his Basic Insect monster and then destroys the dinosaur, leaving him the winner and tournament champion.

"Man, King Rex squashed by an insect?" Joey looks dumbfounded as the announcer appears on the field and makes a announcement "And now a very special honour for our new champion, here to present the Duel Monsters championship trophy, the creator of Duel Monsters and the president of Industrial Illusions. Ladies and gentlemen and fellow duellists, I give you Maximillion Pegasus!" The man in question is tall and dressed in a slightly gaudy red suit with long shock white hair that covers one of his eyes. This makes Lila lean forward, Pegasus doesn't normally show up to give out the trophy, so something special must be going on.

"Congratulations," he hands the prize over to the short, green clad boy who looks a mixture of smug and star struck as he thanks him "And, as regional champion, I invite you to compete in the bold new tournament I'm hosting at Duellist Kingdom." With that the group turn away from the television, the match over and none of them really have any interest in watching the adverts that will follow so the screen is switched off.

"Hah! With all the excitement of the championship, you forgot to open your package, Yugi," he Grandpa remarks, making the boy look back at his mail.

"What could it be?" he removes the tape holding it closed then opens the box. Inside is a video tape, a set of two golden stars and a weird looking glove that Tea remarks on as Lila lifts it up to get a better look at it. The glove part is red but there's a white band with spaces that look the perfect size and shape for those little stars.

"Maybe there's an explanation on the tape," Tristan suggests as Lila gets up and takes the glasses, asking if anyone wants a refill. With the orders, she leaves the room while the others set up the video player. There's some static then Pegasus appears on the screen.

"Greetings, little Yugi. I am Maximillion Pegasus."

"Pegasus?"

"We just saw him on TV."

"The famous Maximillion Pegasus sends greetings to my Yugi?" Mr Muto doesn't know whether he should be proud or suspicious.

"I have heard some terribly interesting things about you, Yugi," the boy in question blinks, shocked "Your present defeat of Seto Kaiba intrigued me so much, I've decided to investigate your amazing duelling skills personally. Right here, right now, we shall hold a special duel. We'll play with a strict time limit of fifteen minutes and when time's up, the player with the highest life-points will be the winner. Are you ready?"

"Wha-?"

"Wha-? He can't seriously expect you to fight a duel against a video tape."

"That's crazy." The man on the screen lets out a small, evil laugh as a black aura fills the room and the group fade into the back ground, frozen as he says "No, it's magic."

"Everything's growing dark and cold and the others aren't moving. What have you done to them? Where have you taken us?"

"We're no longer in the world you know. But I will return you... after our game."

"Then it's time to duel," the eye on the puzzle lights up and once again, Yugi changes into his other self "Start the clock and make your move Pegasus."

"Ah but first," there is a sound of a door opening, but when Yugi looks behind him, he can't see the door. However, he can see that Lila has come back into the room. Her mouth hanging open as she drops the glasses of soda, looking around with her moss coloured eyes wide in fright "What's a match without spectators."

"Y-Yugi, what's going on?" she looks to the now taller boy and the television.

"Now, let's begin," Yugi snaps his attention back to Pegasus as the time beeps to let him know the clock has started. Despite not knowing what is going on, Lila comes to behind Yugi and sits down to watch. Whatever is going on, it looks like she isn't going to get an explanation.

"Nervous, Yugi-boy? You should be. You have never faced a duellist like me before."

"You may be good."

"I assure you, I am."

"But I will beat you and save my friends," Yugi declares, picking the Koumori Dragon from his hand to summon, however there is a glow behind Pegasus' hair, where his covered eye is "You won't save anyone with that dragon card." Both Lila and Yugi look to the man on the screen in shock. How? Though only Yugi is the one to voice the question they both are thinking "I told you, you've never faced anyone like me before. I know every move you'll make. Before you can even make it," the two teenagers glare "Knowing every move you'll make gives me a distinct advantage, wouldn't you say? For example, I can anticipate your next play and counter it with this Dragon Capture will draw the Koumori Dragon from your card and imprison the beast. Trapped. Never to be played against me. " Just as Pegasus describes, the purple dragon appears from the card and is sucked into the ancient looking jaw that also appears from the card. It's like the duel against Kaiba, only this time there are no holo-projectors to explain why the cards are appearing.

_This is crazy, _Yugi thinks as he looks at his hand and the field _First he reads my mind, then he brings the monster on my card to life._

"This dark dimension we're in is known as the Shadow Realm, a mystical place where incredible monsters can be summoned and the impossible is quite possible," Pegasus explains with a smug smile as he looks over his hand. Lila frowns and moves closer to Yugi, pressing herself into his side as she says "What you're saying can't possibly be true." Yugi hmms in agreement making Pegasus chuckle.

"Tell me, Yugi, Lila, do you believe there is magic in these card?" Lila's head cocks instinctively, wondering how he knows her name, neither her or Yugi have said it since she stepped into the shadowy room.

"Don't you know? You invented this game."

"What if I told you I didn't?"

"Huh?"

"In ancient times, the Egyptians called this the Shadow Game. Powerful fellows would hold mystical duels in other dimensions just as we're doing now. But not with cards, they battled with real monsters and real magic. Magical forces so powerful, the Egyptians lost control of them and nearly destroyed the entire world."

"Nice story," Lila glares "But there is no way monsters like these could be real." Pegasus chuckles, finally turning his gaze to the girl by his opponent as he says "Tell that to my Dragon Piper as his flute of resurrection frees Yugi-boy's Koumori Dragon, but puts him under my control." The dragon reappears on Pegasus' side of the field.

"I have a counter attack! Silver Fang!" a white furred wolf appears and the Koumori Dragon instantly fires a burst of fire at the canine, who howls as it is destroyed "Oh, the heat!" Yugi puts and arm over his face and moves his body in front of Lila to try and protect them both from the flames.

"Hah! As you see, Yugi, these monsters are very real. And also quite dangerous. Ah, Yugi-boy. You really are quite entertaining- the way you scowl and sneer so defiant and yet helpless. And so completely ignorant of the power of your Millennium Puzzle," Pegasus says, his statements mixed with a few evil sounding chuckles. Lila's gaze drops to Yugi's puzzle as the boy says "What?!"

"Five thousand years ago, a powerful pharaoh locked the power of the Shadow Games away."

"What's this have to do with me?"

"The pharaoh captured these vast magical energies in seven mystical Millennium Items."

"Seven items? You're saying that... my puzzle's one of them?"

"Yes, and there are mystical energies locked within it. Magic that could change your life forever... if you only knew how to unleash it."

"But why are you telling me this?"

"Because he's stalling for time, the clock's still ticking," Lila snaps as she glares darkly at the card game's creator, making him chuckle. Yugi nods to Lila and says "She's right, time's running out and I still haven't figured out if he can really read my mind or if it's some kind of trick." While Yugi looks down at his hand, Lila watches the screen and sees Pegasus lift the hair covering his eye to reveal something with a similar symbol on it to Yugi's puzzle, which glows.

_I've gotta try something, maybe my Zombie Warrior! _Pegasus laughs _Wait a minute, he definitely knows what I'm about to do. But how? It's gotta have something to do with that weird eye of his. That's it, isn't it? That weird eye must somehow let him see the cards in my hand. So no matter which card I pick, he's already one step ahead of me. But that gives me an idea._

"Hurry up now, Yugi-boy. Time is running out for you and your friends."

_I guess he's expecting me to play one of the cards in my hand. But what if I play a card even I haven't seen yet?! What happens if I draw a new card straight from the deck without even looking at it?_

"I already know you plan to play the Zombie Warrior, and I'm already prepared to counter it with a trap card that makes even zombies lie down and play dead."

"Not this time," Yugi says with a smirk "I figured out your little game, Pegasus. You may be able to see the cards in my hand, but you can't see the cards I pull from the deck," Pegasus' eyes narrow as he watches Yugi draw his card without looking "My next card is..." he turns it over to show it to everyone "The Dark Magician!"

"Whoa, the big, scary Dark Magician," Pegasus taunts sarcastically.

"Mock me all you like, Pegasus. But my magician will destroy that dragon."

"Go right ahead, if you think it'll help."

"It'll do more then help, Pegasus. It'll bring you closer to defeat and me closer to saving my friends."

"If it can do all that, by all means, play it."

"Dark Magician," Yugi plays his favourite monster in attack position, and like the Koumori Dragon before it, the magician appears from the card "Dark Magic Attack!" The Dark Magician holds his hand out and destroys the purple dragon, dropping Pegasus' life points down to twelve hundred. However all this does is make Pegasus laugh "Nicely played. But by using your Dark Magician, you've let me manipulate you once again."

"Huh?" both Lila and Yugi frown in confusion.

"By playing that one card, you have ensure my victory."

"No."

"We shall see, Yugi. Oh, a very rare card. This is the fearsome Faceless Mage," Pegasus explains, turning his card to show it to the two teens. Lila shudders at the creepy image, it looks way too much like her great aunts creepy china dolls for her liking. Yugi notices her discomfort and places a hand on her shoulder to try and sooth her.

"I've never seen that card before. But my Dark Magician is one of the strongest magic cards in the game."

"But how will he fare once I combine my Faceless Mage with the, equally rare, Eye Of Illusion." Yugi has his magician attack again but it has no effect something that neither of the teens understand, making Pegasus laugh _His Faceless Mage should've been destroyed, but it's still standing and Yugi is running out of time. _Lila's hand clenches into a fist where she is resting it on her knee as she looks at the time.

_I'm up by three hundred life-points, but only because Pegasus is toying with me. I've got to find a way to beat him at his own Shadow Game. Pegasus knows all kinds of tricks, but I've gotta find a way to defeat him! I just have to trust my Grandpa's cards _Yugi draws and glances at his new card "I attack your combo with the Celtic Guardian! This mighty warrior will cut your Faceless Mage down to size!" The pointy eared warrior appears on the field.

"True, your guardian is mighty, but you have once again underestimated the incredible power of my Eye Of Illusion," Pegasus laughs.

_No!_

"Dark Magic Attack!" the Celtic Guardian is destroyed and Yugi's life points drop to four hundred.

"But wait! The Faceless Mage doesn't have a Dark Magic Attack!" Lila calls out. But then the two see the silhouette of the monster Yugi attacked more clearly and they both realise what actually happened when they see the purple clad mage in a trance like state with a glowing eyes emblazoned on his chest. _It was my own Dark Magician that attacked me. Pegasus is controlling him with the Eye Of Illusion. But if he's using it's magic to control my magician, what protecting his mage? _Pegasus place a card face down.

"Well, Yugi, our time together is nearly up. And as I've more life points then you, it appears, I am the victor," Pegasus starts to applaud himself as the timer ticks down.

"Time's not up just yet, Pegasus. And you've left your Faceless Mage vulnerable to a physical assault!" Yugi holds up a monster to show it to Pegasus, who isn't smiling anymore, in fact he looks frustrated for the first time this entire duel as Yugi throws his monster onto the field and as the monster appears, he calls it to attack. The Summoned Skull lunges for Pegasus' mage but before the attack can connect, they disappear as the countdown has run down to zero, ending the duel before the battle could finish.

"Hm, well, we've run out of time. But how close was that! If you'd been able to complete that attack, I would have lost! But I didn't, did I? I have taken the measure of your talents this day, Yugi Muto, and when next we duel, we shall play for far higher stakes!"

"I'm done with your games!" Pegasus wags his finger like he's scolding a small child "You presume I'm giving you a in the matter," he pulls his hair aside to show Yugi his strange eye "But I'm not. For I, too, possess one of the seven Millennium Items, the all powerful Millennium Eye!"

"A Millennium Eye?"

"That's right, Yugi-boy, and now I'll show you the true extend of it's magic!" as the eye glows both Yugi and Lila brace themselves, Yugi tucking Lila into his chest to block her, waiting for the worst to happen, but whatever Pegasus has done, wasn't aimed at either of them. The beam of light fires behind them and engulfs his grandpa. A ghost of Mr Muto vanishes into the television "You see, I have found that, given the proper incentive, anyone can be made to play my game!" Lila and Yugi look up and when they see an image of his grandfather on the screen, they realise what has just happened. Yugi seems to change back to normal right before Lila's eyes as he gasps and throws himself at the television, shouting for his grandfather. As he shouts at the screen, everything starts to turn back to normal, the shadows disappearing and the rest of the group coming back to themselves while Mr Muto's body falls to one side unconscious.

"Yes, we will duel again, Yugi, how else will you ever reclaim your grandfather's soul?!" Pegasus' voice sounds before the video ends. Lila puts her hands on a sobbing Yugi's shoulders, pulling the shorter boy into a hug so he can cry into her shoulder.

* * *

"Lila, you back?" she hears her dad call as she steps into the house. She looks up and the older man frowns in concern when he sees the lost, slightly shell shocked look on her face "Are you okay?" She blinks and opens her mouth but doesn't say anything for a moment. How can she explain just what's happened? He'd never believe her.

"Yugi's grandfather had an accident," she settles as she steps into the living room, where her brother is on the floor with the old family dog laying across his back "He's back in the hospital." Her dad looks at her in concern and looks to a package on the coffee table. Lila also sees it, a very familiar looking package. She carefully makes her way over to it, making sure not to trip over or step on any of her youngest brother's toys that are littered across the floor. Picking it up, she removes the tape and with a lump in her throat, opens it. Inside there is a glove exactly like the one in Yugi's as well as two of those star things. However unlike Yugi, she doesn't have a video, but rather, there is a letter.


	3. 03 Journey To Duellist Kingdom

Three - Journey to the Duellist Kingdom

It's dark when Yugi gets back to the closed game shop. Lila is waiting for him with an envelope clutched in her hand and Yugi sees a similar looking one wedged in the shop's door "What's this?" Lila swallows and opens hers as Yugi does the same, showing they have an identical set of five cards "They're from Pegasus!" Lila nods "Invitations to the tournament at Duellist Kingdom. You too Lila?" The brunette nods again and shoves the cards in her pocket, kicking some dirt from the pavement.

* * *

"A tournament at Duellist Kingdom? Isn't that an island?" Tea asks as the two teens show their friends the cards they have laid out on their desk. Tristan is sitting on a chair backwards, that he has pushed to the side of the desk while the other two are standing on either side of their sitting friends.

"So that's where Pegasus is keepin' your grandpa?"

"Maybe," Yugi shrugs "The only way to be for sure is to become a contestant. The boat's going to be leaving in two days." Yugi is looking at another card that shows an old fashioned looking wooden ship that has three masts and countless sails on the ocean under a cresent moon.

"But you can't go! It could be dangerous!"

"I have to go. It's the only clue I have for rescuing Grandpa."

"And if Yugi goes, I'm going too," Lila puts her own card down and tries her best friend a shaky smile "Two have a better chance of success then one, right?" Yugi nods, returning the smile. The two had discussed this the night before when they both got their invites. Though neither of them understand why Lila would get an invite, unlike most of the people who have no doubt been invited, she's never been in a tournament and unlike Yugi, she doesn't have something Pegasus wants as a reason for him to want her on the island.

"I still can't believe it! Pegasus used some kind of weird spell to grab your grandpa's soul away! And now he's toying with you, forcing you to duel in the tournament!" Tristan says as the group looks over to two sets of five cards. Lila picking up the card with a blank picture, looking at it with concern.

"Right, and unlike Lila, we don't have invitations, so we can't even go there with you! I wish we could help ya, pal...," no one says anything, all of them turning serious and sombre.

"This is bad..."

"Huh," Tristan suddenly pipes up as he picks up a card that depicts a pile of gold coins and jewels "Hey! Yugi! Check this out. According to this card the tournament winner takes the grand prize of three million dollars!" He shows the card to the others.

"Three mil?" Joey says quietly.

"So what, Tristan?" Yugi brushes it off "Who care about money at a time like this?"

"Hey, gimme that card!" Joey calls out in excitement, reaching forward to grab the card from his friend's hand and looks down at in in awe, reading the text written along the bottom of the card, eyes bright with hope "Three million."

"Guess Joey does..," however Joey doesn't hear them, to focused on the thought of the prize money, saying "Three million, in cold cash..."

* * *

There is a beautiful sunset view when Yugi and Lila come across Joey on the roof, back against the wall of the building, watching the sun as it goes down. He looks lost in thought, making Lila a little unsure about disturbing him, so she let's Yugi approach him first.

"Joey? What're you doing up here?"

"Huh?"

"What's with you?" Yugi follow's Joey's gaze to the setting sun.

"Ah, nothin'. I'm just thinking about a whole lot a'stuff. Yugi, you do know that I care about your gramps, right? I mean, he taught me about the heart a' the cards!" Yugi looks back.

"Of course I know."

"I mean it! One way or another I'll help you beat Pegasus!" Yugi and Lila walk over and each sit on either side of the boy, Lila placing a hand on his arms, giving him an encouraging smile as Yugi says "That really means a lot to me, Joey. I'm glad we're friends."

"Remember that first time we met?"

"You mean when you stole a piece of the Millennium Puzzle?" Lila asks, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, making him blush with embarrassment and Yugi laughs softly. Joey scratches the back of his head, looking down at the ground as the trio think back to the day Yugi had showed Lila and Tea the Millennium Puzzle after he got it from his Grandpa.

"The way Grandpa explained it to me, the Puzzle was originally found in some Egyptian ruins. My Grandpa gave it to my and kind of dared me to solve it. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen! As soon as I touched it, I knew it was special. I made a wish on the Puzzle. I asked it to give me a friend that I wouldn't have to keep saying goodbye too, like I had to do whenever Lila's parents took her out of the country with them, and I think the Puzzle came through for me. That was when Lila told me she wouldn't have to leave anymore, and I met up with you and Tristan. Although, you sure didn't act like my friends at first," Yugi finishes with a small laugh.

"You mean, when we were playin' keep away with the Millennium Puzzle? It was for you, man! We just wanted to toughen ya up so you could stand up to the real bullies," Joey defends, making Lila shake her head with a sigh "We were only teasin' ya."

"Teasing! You took a piece of the Millennium Puzzle and threw it out the window! And Lila and me were the ones that tried to help you guys out when that bully picked on you!"

"Yeah, you guys stood up for us. I'll never forget that. Because a' you, we got that moron expelled. And Tristan and I learned what it was like to have a true friend."

"Well at least you retrieved the lost Puzzle piece, if you hadn't done that, I could never have solved the Millennium Puzzle!"

"The truth a' the matter is, you're the best friend I've ever had."

"Yeah! It's too bad you can't go with my to rescue Grandpa," Yugi's eyes drop.

"Don't worry, some how, some way, I promise we'll do it, together," Joey promises.

"Together?"

"You bet! We're a team Yugi, you, me and Lila," the girl smiles at being included and nudges Joey with her shoulder, making the blonde through her a grin, though it drops when a confused expression crosses her face and she asks "But how are you going to help without an invitation?"

"Hmm..." Joey looks thoughtful as he thinks up a plan.

* * *

Lila looks at her watch as she moves her way through the crowd gathered at the dock, trying to find her way to Yugi. Half nine, where is that boy? They planned to meet but with the two of them lacking in the height department, it makes it a little tricky to see each other with everyone standing around, waiting to board the boat.

"Attention all duellists. Welcome to this event sponsored by Industrial Illusions!" Lila looks up and takes note of all the suit wearing officials standing at the rail of the ship "You received with your invitation the star chips that will grant you entry into the contest. You are all elite, invited by us after close observation of your past Duel Monsters contests. You each have a fair and equal chance to win. It all comes down to how well you've chosen your cards, and how well you play. Now, then, duellists, cross the ocean, and enter the Duellist Kingdom!" Continuing to walk through the crowd, she finally lets out a sigh of relief and rushes over familiar spiky hair.

"Yugi!" he glances over at her and throws a sheepish smile when he sees her annoyed look "So much for meeting at the entrance huh?" She is only being playful as she scolds him, and he knows it but he understands her concern "Come on, they've set up a table at the boarding area, hope you have those star chips handy," Lila points to the long line making their way onto the ship, which the two head to join.

"Hey you!" someone shouts, catching the two teens attention and Lila slaps her hand to her forehead as she spots one of those suits restraining their friend "Get outta here, only official constants are allowed on board!" Joey responds but Lila can't make out what it is, even as the two of them walk their way over to him, since unlike the official, he isn't yelling.

"I guess we better go save him, huh?" Lila suggests and Yugi nods, the two stepping back out of the line and making their way over to Joey.

"Leave him alone!" Yugi gets the attention of the official as the two come up to him.

"Hey Yugi, Lila!"

"So nimrod, what are you up to?" Lila asks, looking at him with her arms crossed and a raised eyebrow. Joey chuckles and smiles at them "Did you two really think I'd let you do this on your own? C'mon, help my out?" The two smile and shake their heads. Trust Joey to get himself into trouble, but his heart's in the right place at least. Yugi steps forwards "He's with us. You gotta let him on."

"Only people with a star chip can get on board! There are no exceptions, understand?" the official corrects, looking down his nose at the teenagers.

"But Joey has a star chip. Didn't he tell you?"

"I do?" Joey blinks somewhat owlishly, making Lila sigh and shake her head again, that boy. Yugi hold out his hand and hands a single star chip over and Lila takes out the invitation card, showing it to the offical saying "According to the rules, a star chip is proof that you're an offical duelist."

"That may be, but all participants are given two star chips," he looks down to Yugi "You'll be at a disadvantage."

"Maybe, but I'd rather take that risk then be without my friend when we get to Duellist Kingdom. I need him."

"Yugi..." the two suit clad men don't look happy and seem unsure of what to do, until one of their phones rings. The one who answers turns away from the trio and speaks into it quietly. They all wait for a few moments as he nods then hangs up, turning to the trio and dismissing them, meaning the three quickly rejoin the line for the ship.

* * *

"I'm glad they let you on board, Joey."

"Only because you sacrificed one a' your star chips for me," Lila smiles as she listens to the boys, leaning her elbows on the railing, with her back facing the water and inhales deeply. There is a slight breeze that causes all their hairs to ruffle and carries the scent of the ocean "But if any of the other players find out we only have one star chip each, they could really try to take advantage of us."

"Then don't be so loud about it," Lila doesn't open her eyes as she speaks, making Joey chuckle and scratch the back of his head as he looks over to the girl. There is a loud horn when the boat pulls away from the docks. Lila opens her eyes and looks to the side, watching the lights of the city as they start to get smaller as the boat moves away.

"Kinda exciting it, isn't it guys?"

"Yeah!" Yugi agrees as Lila nods, though she doesn't turn, instead she notices an young blonde woman who looks a few years older then them.

"Well what do we have here!" they turn around and the boys are taken back. Lila bets it's a mixture of the woman's beauty and her less then modest outfit, being made up of a white corset style top and a matching purple jacket and mini skirt. Joey is especially taken with her and looks on the verge of drooling, making Lila sigh and reach around Yugi to hit the tall boy around the back of the head to try and get his attention back. He shakes himself and blushes.

"So, you're the Yugi kid everybody's talking about, huh?" she ignores Joey and Lila as she steps closer to the short boy "I'm amazed that a squirt like you could beat Kaiba. You're famous, ya know."

"News travels fast, huh?" Lila smiles at her friend, bumping him with her shoulder. Yugi glances down as a slight dusting of red covers his cheeks at the older woman's attention and forwardness.

"Uh, thanks very much, I think."

"Hey, miss, I'm a really good friend a' the famous Yugi, the master duellist. In fact-"

"Look," Mai still has her full focus on Yugi "You're either a champ or a chump, cut this guy loose. He's fashion challanged and desevered to be crushed in the games," with that, she turns on her stylish heels and walks away from the trio, Joey staring after her with wide eyes, saying "Please, crush me!"

"I'll crush you all, eventually," she says as she looks over her shoulder "The name's Mai."

_And Joey's in love, _Lila thinks with a smile as she looks at her friend's besotted face. All that boy needs is a pretty face attached to an attractive body and he's complete goo.

* * *

Coming back from the bathroom, Lila's eyes widen at the commotion she finds her friends in. Once again Joey is getting himself into trouble, this time he's complaining about the rooms. She sighs and shakes her head, letting him get himself worked up, and hopefully calm himself down. However she side steps when two people come to enter the room from behind her.

"Hey, aren't you that kid Yugi?" the green clad boy with glasses asks as he steps around Lila and over to Yugi. _Guess that Mai lady wasn't kidding, everyone seems to know who Yugi is now. _Yugi turns and notices the two championship finalists making their way over to them.

"Huh? Yeah. And you're-"

"Weevil!" Joey pipes up "And Rex the dino duellist!"

"Heh! You're wastin' your time with those guys," Rex's slightly nasal voice sounds "The private rooms only go to finalist from the last championship, like us." He brags then glances to Lila, his eyes widening momentarily, then he smirks and turns his full attention to the pretty brunette "Wanna see?" The girl in question makes a mildly disgusted noise and rolls her eyes, walking over to Joey asking "You causing problems _again_? I'm sorry sirs. If you'd let my rude friend go, I promise I'll keep a better eye on him." Yugi and the professional duellists exchange pleasantries as the officials look her over then nod, shoving Joey over to her. Lila gives the boy a dark look and he shrinks down, muttering a quiet apology before he turns back to Yugi.

"Yeah, I went easy on him, that time."

"Yeah? Well this time Yugi an' I are gonna take the tournament! Right, Yugi?" he then looks to Lila and opens his mouth to include her in his statement but she holds a hand up and waves it off. Weevil steps closer to Yugi and says "To tell you the truth, winning the last championship didn't feel like that much of an achievement; I guess I can't really call myself the champion until I defeat the duellist who beat Kaiba! But I'm sure I'll end up battling you in the big tournament, Yugi. Frankly, I look forward to it." Lila can tell Weevil's tone makes Yugi a little uncomfortable but as usual, he tries to be friendly with everyone.

"I look forward to it, too."

"I'm looking forward, to some dino demolition!" Rex throws another glance at Lila, who pays him no mind, instead she stands close by Yugi as Weevil steps even closer to the boy and stage whispers "Let me tell you a little secret. It's something none of the other players know about the games yet."

"Isn't that cheating?"

"The other duellists will find out soon enough, but there are new rules on the island that require more strategy."

"Ah, rules are for whimps," Rex smirks as he shrugs his shoulders "In duelling you either smash your opponent, or get smashed yourself, it's one or the other!"

"Strength is good but you also need to combine them with other cards," Lila smiles as she hears Joey quote his lessons. Looks like they're really sinking in with him. It's good to hear.

"Who asked you? Stay outta me way or I'll stomp you, like everyone else!" Rex snaps back at the blond then leaves, making Lila roll her eyes. Someone has a big opinion of himself.

"We'll see who stomps who when we get to the island!"

"Ignore him," Weevil waves off "Let's go scope out the competition."

"What do you mean?"

"Check out those chumps," Weevil gestures to groups of people gathered around with their cards on display, showing them to each other and making exchanges "They're already trading over there. Players here are swapping card and strengthening their decks, getting ready for the big tournament! It's also a good chance to get a feel for your opponent's cards." Yugi and Lila nods, both thinking the same thing. It's no wonder Weevil seems to know so much about his opponent's cards and strategys. Joey quickly joins into the groups, making Lila chuckle softly. That's isn't such a bad idea.

"Guess Joey's trading," Yugi says deadpan, he then looks to Lila "You interested in seeing what you can get too?"

"If you've come all this way and you're still trying to improve your deck, you've got to be pretty desperate!" Weevil snarks, throwing the trading groups a dirty look before he turns and absently waves to Yugi and Lila "I'll catch you on the flip side!" _Good riddance, _Lila thinks as she throws after Weevil _That guy's a total jerk._

"Wanna see if we can find anything?" Lila suggests, tilting her head back to the groups and Yugi shakes his head but wishes Lila luck as the two separated and he goes to find a place to sit while she joins in to try and find some useful cards for trade.

* * *

Lila is sorting through her cards with Yugi, the two working out strategys for the brunette's deck with her couple of newer additions when Joey comes over to them with a wide smile "Hey guys! I got some good card trading in." He holds his new cards out.

"Hey, lemme see 'em! Salamandra, Kunai With Chain, Baby Dragon and Shield and Sword, great! With these new magic cards, combine with your monsters, you'll have a real strong deck."

"All right! So now I'm ready to win every duel I play!" Joey boasts then he looks down at the cards on the table and his jaw drops "No way, you got a Salamandra and Kunai With Chain too? And what's a Divine Dragon Ragnarok, or... hey wait don't you already got a Command Knight? What's with the doubles?" Lila chuckles as she gathers up her new and old cards, putting them in the hip box she keeps her card in when they aren't in her bag or being used.

"Hey, they're good cards and Command Knight's ability works well when there's two of her, not just her attack boast but her second one too," she throws him a playful wink "But since we're going to compete against each other soon enough, I think I'll keep the second one a secret. As for my new dragon, well I just thought she was beautiful so why now." Yugi chuckles a little at the Tea like logic and turn to the golden box that once contained the pieces of his puzzle that he now uses to house his deck and takes one out to hand to Joey "Here, add this to your deck. It can help in a tight spot." Lila's eyes widen as she sees Yugi hand over Time Wizard, then she gets and idea and reaches into her bag.

"Here, another trap could help you out a bunch," she hands over a Trap Hole card "I've had it a while but don't really use it much anymore and I get the feeling you could use it." Joey beams warmly at his two friends handing over cards "Thanks! I'll take 'em. I can't get over how you two are always helpin' me out!"

"What are friends for?" Lila shrugs before she leans back in her seat and stretches her arms back behind her head.

"As, we meet again," Lila holds in a groan as Weevil makes his way over to the trio. He moves past them and leans against the railing "Ah, the evening winds sure feel nice. So did you trade for any goof cards, Yugi?"

"No. I'm gonna duel with the cards I brought along with me."

"I figured as much. You used the Exodia cards in your duel with Kaiba, right? Those are the strongest cards of them all," Lila narrows her eyes at the pale blue haired boy, not liking his interest in her friend's rare cards. This kid just rubs her the wrong way, she doesn't like him and she's never been one to ignore her gut.

"And really rare!"

"Could I... possibly see those legendary cards?" While Yugi agrees, Lila tries to discourage him, getting a dark look from the bug duellist but Yugi waves it off as he tells the green clad boy to be careful with them "Here."

"So these are the cards to summon Exodia. For a long time I've been trying to come up with some kind of strategy to finally beat these cards," Lila frowns, doesn't he know how hard it is to draw the cards? Just use Card Destruction at the right time and as long as your opponent doesn't have multiple copies of the cards, you're kind of set "But I couldn't come up with anything... until this moment." He quickly turns and throws the cards over the railing "Say goodbye to Exodia!"

"No!" Yugi runs to the rail, too late to stop his cards from falling and watches as they float on the mild waves. Lila grits her teeth and grabs hold of Weevil before he can walk away, quickly slamming her balled fist into his face, making him fall to the ground and scamper off, clutching his bloody nose with both hands, clearly not the evil laughing get away he expected. Despite the violence, Lila's temper isn't fully sated but she turns back to the destaught Yugi and then looks over at the cards in the water, her hands clenched into fists at her side, arms shaking slightly.

"My cards. Those were the Exodia card that me Grandpa gave me!"

"I'll get 'em," Joey jumps up onto the railing and dives off the side of the boat after the cards, making Lila gasp as she grips the railing, Yugi shouting "Joey, don't." The two look over the edge at the water with slight frowns, trying to spot their friend "Joey, where are you?" The blonde surfaces and does his best to grab the cards as they pass him.

"I promise you! I'll get them, Yugi!"

"Joey, they're not worth drowning over!"

"Don't worry, Yugi," he manages to snag one of the cards "Look, there I got one of 'em."

"Joey!" Lila shouts, fear thick in her voice "Swim back to the ship you idiot!"

"No way! At least this time there's somethin' I can do to help someone I care about!" Joey pauses for a moment before he comes back to it and grabs another card "Just three more now-" There is a larger wave that swamps him, meaning the two watching lose sight of him, making them both call out in fright and the tri colour haired boy jump in after him.

"Yugi!" Lila screams as she watches him swim over to the other boy. She can't make out what they are saying when he gets to Joey, but she does see him dive down to bring the taller boy back to the surface when he starts to sink, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Yugi!" Lila spots Tea and Tristan, the former shouting from the edge of the deck while the two of them throw over a rope ladder "Grab hold!" Yugi lets out a small smile as he swims the two of them over to the rope, calling out to his friends.

The boys are safely on the boat, shivering when Lila gets over them, falling to her knees and pulling the two of them into a bone crushing hug, making Joey comically try to gasp for air while Yugi accepts hit and pats her on the back before he looks to the other two "That was close! I'm sure glad you two guys showed up. Really glad."

"We're a team," Tea says matter of factly "We all stick together."

"We'll always watch your back."

"Thanks a lot, you guys," he then turns to Lila, who is still shaking a little and while Joey has managed to wriggle free, the brunette is still holding onto him "Are you okay?"

"Me? You're asking me? Yugi, you and Joey jumped in the ocean. The ocean!" her voice raises a little as she pulls back and looks at her friend with wide eyes shining with unshed tears "I didn't do anything. I just stood there!"

"Lila," he says softly "You can't swim, you couldn't have done anything." She shakes her head and pulls him back into a tight hug, making Yugi blush when he feels her breasts brush against his chest while Lila says "Don't you two idiots ever scare me like that again!" He doesn't say anything, just pats her shoulder again until she's ready to let him go.

"I'm sorry, Yugi," Joey says, looking to all the world like a puppy that's just had the biggest scolding of it's life "I failed. I only found two of your card." He holds out the two soaked Exodia pieces.

"It's okay, Joey."

"It's not okay. It's always this way with me. I'm never able to help anybody. Not even my own sister, Serenity."

"Serenity?"

"Really? You have a sister, Joey?" Tea asks, shock clear on her face and Lila looks up confused asking "How come you never mentioned her to us before now?"

"Our parents divorced years ago, when we were kids. She lives far away, with my mother. My sister's had really bad eyes since she was born," he looks up and meets Yugi's eyes "Eventually she'll go blind."

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks, Yuge," Lila gets up and places a hand on his arm, trying her best to give him a comforting smile "She sent me a message. The doctors told her that the time has come, soon her eyes will be impossible to repair, even with surgery. But there're these specialists who could preform an operation now before it's too late! They could save her eyesight! But there's no way I could pay for the operation. I have to win, for her! Winnin' the Duellist Kingdom, and getting the prize money is the only way I can help Serenity!" The warm glow of the raising sun appears on the horizon as Yugi nods in understanding. The group turn to look over at it, Yugi saying "We'll both do our best, Joey. You for your sister, and me for me grandpa." Lila places a hand on Yugi's shoulder, making the boy look at her.

"And I'll help anyway I can."

"That's right, we'll do this together!"

"Look the island!" Tristan calls out and the group see the island as it appears on the horizon.

"That's the Duellist Kingdom! That's it. We're almost there."


	4. 04 Hornet's Nest & Great Moth

**_Gunna be a longer chapter, combining two episodes into one. _****_Also question, would anyone be bothered if I gave Lila the Magician Girl cards in her deck, yes I know they weren't released until much later, well after this series finished. Which is why I'm asking. Just one of each monster and it would only be Battle City on wards, kind of like how Yugi and Joey has a minor deck change between season one and two. It would mean she didn't use any of the monsters she would win during Battle City, like how Yugi never uses any cards from the people he beats except for Silfer and Obelisk, Red-Eyes doesn't count since he tried to give it back to Joey. Did Yugi even take any cards from the other rare hunter he faced?... Anyway tangent over, question remains, could I put the Magician Girl monsters in Lila's season two on wards deck or should I not? Please let me know._**

* * *

Four - Into the Hornet's Nest & The Legendary Great Moth

"Man. This Duellist Kingdom looks like a pretty big place, Yugi. Finding your grandpa's not gonna be easy," Lila nods in agreement as she gazes at the incoming island, the ship almost to the dock, he isn't exaggerating the place is huge. And totally random for having a tournament, something she and Yugi have been wondering about for much of the boat ride.

"Well, we gotta start somewhere."

As the anchor drops, Joey sees more of those suit clad men and points them out to the group while a loudspeaker booms "Attention all duellists. Please Disembark in an orderly fashion." The many passengers that had gathered at the railings slowly begin to trickle off the boat, the group ending up near the back as Tristan pulls Tea to one side "Hey Tea, what if one of those security guys finds out we're both stowaways. We oughta just play it safe and swim back!" Lila face palms when she overhears her trench coat clad friend and agrees with Tea's, justifiably angry, response "We're in the middle of nowhere, lame brain! If you can just try and act normal, we'll be okay." _Chance of that would be a fine thing, _Lila thinks as she jogs to keep up with Joey, making her way towards the ramp.

While the rest of the group make it past the security without drawing attention to themselves, Tristan just has to make a fool of himself by walking like he's forgotten his limbs can bend. Luckily the man in suits just chalk it up to a nervous competitor. Lila shakes her head as the group make their way away from the docks where they can talk without being overheard.

"I think I just had a heart attack!"

"Way to play it cool Tristan!" Tea remarks sarcastically "That wasn't suspicious at all."

"Alright! Every single one of use made it here safe a-a-achoo!" Joey lets out a powerful sneeze, making Lila and Tea leap back slightly like a pair of startled cats, doing what he set out to do and changing the conversation, though not in the way he had hoped. Tea cringes and makes a mildly disgusted face while Joey sniff, thanking Lila when she hands him a small pack of tissues from her backpack.

"You wouldn't have caught that cold if it wasn't for Weevil," Yugi's eyes darken slightly and it's easy to guess what he's thinking about. Joey cleans his nose off and glares over into the crowd saying "Speakin' of our wormy friend, looks like he just slithered his way off the boat and is already looking to start trouble," the group follow the blonde's gaze and see the boy in question smirking at them from across the dock, the two shortest members of the group returning with heated glares, though Lila does get a small thrill to see his nose is still read from her punch "That slime ball, I'd love to wipe that smirk off his face."

_I would too! But we don't have time for Weevil right now, _Yugi thinks as one of the black suit wearing security men begins to address those still gathered around by the docks "Welcome all duellists. Please, follow the stairs to meet your host." He gestures to the frankly ridiculously tall staircase that some have already started heading up and to the large castle sitting at the top, looking like it was carved out of the rock itself.

"That castle belongs to Pegasus!"

"Then what're we waiting for?"

* * *

As the group heads up the large stairway, the actual competitors ahead of the group with the tag alongs lagging behind a little bit, Tea catches a glimpse of something in the forests along side the stone stairs. She pauses and looks over, swearing she saw someone she recognised. Noticing her, the rest of the group pause and glance back at her.

"What do you see Tea?" Yugi asks, making the brunette point towards the trees and explain "It looked like... Bakura."

"Huh? You mean from school?" Lila asks with a slight frown, hopping down the stairs to come to the same step as Tea and leans forward to look into the treeline at the same point as the other girl but she doesn't see anyone.

"Again with this Bakura stuff?" Tristan asks with a raised eyebrow, clearly not believing his friend.

"Where is he Tea?"

"That's two times I've seen him now," Tea explains with a frown as she looks away from the trees "But he's not there anymore. Maybe it's all in my head." She shakes her head and starts on back up the stairs while Lila waits there, continuing to look at the trees. Why would Tea be seeing Bakura? She shrugs it off and carries on with the group, Tristan needlessly reminding them of the reason they are all on the island for.

They eventually get to the castle, where everyone has gathered. Lila spots a couple of people she recognises from the ship ride over, one of them being Mai, who is standing with a smirk in the middle of crowd. The group make their way to the front of the crowd together, overhearing some of the other people talking.

"Wow look, that's Weevil Underwood! He's the regional champion!"

"And that's the runner-up, Rex Raptor!"

"And there's Mako Tsunami, he was ranked third!"

"Wow these're all the best duellists in the world! But where's the world champion, Kaiba?"

"Didn't you hear? Some kid beat him! On his own turf too."

"Are you serious? I thought Kaiba was the best."

"He was but not anymore. Yugi's suppose to the the kid to beat now," hearing that, Joey and Tea nudge Yugi encouragingly, noting the boy's slightly unnerved expression at hearing how quickly the news about his victory has spread. Lila puts a hand on his shoulder and throws him a gentle smile, which he returns shakily, glancing around at all the eager competitors.

"Attention!" a man with very Tristan like hair shouts from the balcony, it was the same one from the boat "Please gather around. You benevolent host is anxious to greet you all." Every looks up at the balcony, waiting for Pegasus to make his appearance. Joey, with a slight growl tone to his voice "Boy, I would like to get five minutes alone with that guy." The man in question appears, dressed in a wine red suit, gazing down at the crowd with an air of superiority.

_I'm not leaving this island until I save my grandpa, no matter what Pegasus has planned for me! _Yugi thinks as he glares up at the tournament host. Pegasus spreads his arms wide, in a grand manner and most of the people gathered cheer loudly "Greetings duellists! I am Maximilian Pegasus! It is my great honour to pleasure to welcome you all to Duellist Kingdom. You stand before me, the world's greatest duellists, but come tournament's end, only one shall be crowned King of Games," Yugi and Lila both look down at their decks, along with many of those gathered "I implore you all to assemble your duelling decks with care, with creativity and with cunning! For this competition will test your skills like never before! To track your progress in the tournament, you've each been given a duelling glove. You've also been given two precious star chips."

Lila looks at the glove she has on, frowning at the two little gold stars attached to the white part, Yugi also slips his glove on as Pegasus shows how the chips fit in the glove "You must wager these star chips on each duel you compete in. To advance to the final level of the competition, for a chance at the three million dollar prize, you must win ten star chips! Ten star chips will admit you into my castle, where you'll face me in one final duel!

_If grandpa's here, I'd bet my duelling glove he's hidden away in that castle! But I'll never be able to get in there with all the guards around. We're just gonna have to win enough star chips to get inside._

"This will be a tournament unlike anything you have ever experienced! State of the art duelling arenas cover this entire island, and intriguing new duelling rules will be in effect! I could tell you what these new rules are, but what fun would that be! You'll discover them as you compete, or you won't last very long!" Lila frowns, unable to see the logic in that argument. Why wouldn't he tell people the rules, what if someone breaks them, how can they know or be punished if the rules aren't explained "Remember, play boldly, think strategically and duel mercilessly! You have one full hour to prepare, both your cards and yourselves. When the skies light up with fireworks, the duels will being!" The crowd cheers once more as Pegasus steps back from the balcony and heads into the castle.

_I gotta win my way into that castle, I just gotta, _Yugi and Lila think along similar lines as they glare up at the now empty balcony. Though Lila does add a _For Yugi, _to the end of it.

* * *

"Yugi, I don't know if I can win this thing," Joey says, looking down at his duelling glove with a down trodden expression "Maybe it's be best for you to take your star chip back."

"Nah, you keep it. You little sister's counting on you to win the tournament's prize money for her," Yugi encourages. Joey's eyes widen and his face takes on a grateful glow as he thanks his friend.

"You can do it!" Tea encourages.

"Yeah, though you should probably stick to the less experiences competitors for the moment, get a couple of wins under your belt first," Lila smiles, nudging her friend with her shoulder, making the boy smile and nod, knowing she doesn't mean anything teasing or mocking by it, like it would seem if it had come from Tristan or even, to a lesser extent, Tea.

"Thanks you guys. Well Yugi, between your grandpa and my sister, the three of us don't have any room for mistakes."

"Right," both Yugi and Lila nod in agreement, there is then a sound of something firing into the air and a burst making the group look to the sky and Tea points out the appearance of the fireworks they have a clear view of from the meadow they are gathered in, along with a few other groups "Let's do it!" Yugi declares. The tournament has officially begun.

Unlike Lila and Joey, Yugi has a good idea of who he wants his first opponent of the tournament to be, so the group begin walking, looking around for the slimy little cockroach otherwise known as Weevil while Yugi explains his plan to the rest of the group until Tea spots said boy. He's standing a little ahead of the group, at a fork in the path with one half continuing on with the meadow while the other heads into the forest in the distance.

"Weevil!" Yugi yells "I challenge you to a duel!" However, Yugi doesn't get an answer, instead Weevil turns tail and runs down the path leading to the forest, laughing loudly to himself.

"I can't believe it! Weevil's running away!" Yugi and Lila instantly start running after him, the other three hesitate for a split second before following.

The path Weevil leads them down heads further and further into the forest, like he's leading them to a deliberate spot. As they run after him, something seems to scare or otherwise disturb the insects living in the forest, causing a large swarm of moths to take flight in a cloud and cover the group of teenagers.

"Whoa where're all these moths coming from?"

"Ugh! They're disgusting!" Lila agrees with Tea as she lifts and arm to cover her eyes to try and stop the wannabe butterflies from flying in her face. Whatever has caused the moths to start bothering the group, it makes it hard for them to keep Weevil in sight, he also has the advantage of not being bothered by the damn bugs, meaning he's able to speed up and get a little further ahead of them.

"He's fast for a small guy!"

"Maybe you're just slow for a big guy!"

"We're never gunna catch 'im! As long as the whole island's in bounds, he'll keep running all day," Lila waves the arm that isn't covering her face to try and swat away some moths so she can try and get a better view on what's around her. Next to her, Yugi is trying to some up with the reason Weevil is so keen on running away. _What's Weevil up to? He's wanted to duel me ever since we met on the boat, so what's he running for? Wait a minute _"What'd he say on the boat?!" Yugi and Lila glance at each other, both coming to the same conclusion. Weevil must have some kind of plan that is probably tied into those new rules he and Pegasus mentioned, and maybe it's tied in with why Pegasus is holding his tournament on this island of all places. When the bugs clear, they find themselves in a clearing where Weevil is standing waiting for them.

"There he is!"

"Welcome, said the spider to the fly! You flew right into my trap! Again!"

"It's time to answer for what you did on the boat, Weevil!" Once more, the eye on the puzzle lights up, making everyone have to glance away for a second when it starts to hurt their eyes and then it fades, the different looking Yugi is standing there. He looks at Weevil and Lila notices there is a certain glint in his eye, like he's going to crush Weevil and enjoy it. The Yugi Lila knows does enjoy duelling and winning, but he doesn't take joy from his opponent's struggles, and yet right now, he looks like he would "All right Weevil, time to find out if you're as good at duelling as you are at running away!"

"Was I simply running away or cleverly weaving you into my web?" Weevil respond snidely.

"It's time to duel!" Weevil chuckles darkly "As you wish!" He shouts his list word and suddenly there is a rumble from below the earth making everyone look around the area uneasily. Tristan calls out about an earthquake but Lila doubts it, she didn't see any volcanoes on the island and doubts the island is in an activate quake area, plus Weevil's evil laugh makes it clear he knows full well what is going on and if it were a real earthquake, he'd probably be the first to pee his pants and run away crying. Yugi seems to notice too as he looks to the bug duellist and ask "What have you done?"

Suddenly the ground actually opens up like a giant sliding door and there is the loud sound of mechanisms whirring as a large duel arena rises from the ground, the podiums unfurling to stand high above any spectators and the holographic projectors straighten up.

"It's gigantic!"

"Man! These aren't gunna be like the duels back home!" Lila shakes her head in agreement, no they are not.

"You've just stepped into a hornet's nest, and there's no way out!"

"What is that?"

"These giant arenas must be set up all over the island!" Joey realises. Lila's eyes widen, how the hell is that possible? Pegasus may be rich but that's ridiculous.

"I'll just meet you on the field!" Weevil shouts over his shoulder as he rushes over to the red side of the duel arena and jumps onto the podium. Lila places a hand on Yugi's shoulder, making him glance over at her "Be careful. Weevil may be a pro, but he's still way too cocky considering he's duelling the guy who beat the world champ." Yugi nods and heads over to the blue podium. Both podiums rise up and the duellists end up facing each other across the field.

"I noticed that you have just one star chip Yugi. I guess that means I'll have the pleasure of eliminating you from the tournament! Once you're gone, everyone else's chips will be easy pickings!"

"Not if I take your two first!" Weevil back rolls in surprise "This will be an all or nothing match for both of us."

"Ha! Why should I risk both my star chips when you only have one?!"

"Because I have something else I think you want," Yugi lifts his deck up, showing the back of his top card to his opponent "My whole Duel Monsters deck!" Lila gasps.

"So you'd risk your grandpa's deck? Fine with me," he laughs maniacally "Winning all your cards will be an easy way to exterminate you once and for all!"

"Exterminate?" Tea says in a revolted tone.

"Swat that little twerp like a mosquito!" There is some rustling in the bushes behind the group as a small group of bystanders show up and point out the duel to a couple of other people, obviously noticing Weevil but not being too sure who Yugi is until Joey pipes up "That guy is Yugi Muto. He beat Kaiba," and of course he can't resist the urge to both brag a little and tease his friend "And I happen to be his best friend Joey Wheeler. And these two," he gestures to Tristan and Tea "These two are trespassers." The two groan and mock fall, making Lila chuckle before she turns her gaze back to the duel field. As they come up to the group, the new arrivals watch with awe, one guy saying "I thought I wouldn't be seeing a Weevil-Yugi match up til the finals!" The projectors light up, signalling the start of the duel.

"Weevil's the regional champ, no new kid's got a chance against him!"

"Well Yugi, my adoring public is waiting, so we should begin," the life point counter sets to two thousand "Let's see how you like my Killer Needle!" Like when Yugi duelled Kaiba, the monster appears on the field. It's a vicious, oversized wasp, making Lila shudder in distaste. She does not like wasps or bees, or really anything in that bug family. Still, despite it's name and appearance, the wasp isn't the strongest of monsters.

"You'll have to get through my Mammoth Graveyard first!" the skeletal, trunkless elephant appears "This massive monster will match your annoying insect point for point! Attack!"

"Killer Needle, let's show the mammoth your stinger! Attack!" Yugi's mammoth charges, only for the wasp to fire it's stinger at it, causing it to shatter. Yugi cries out but Lila smiles when she spots the lack of falling life points. Yugi may be acting surprised but she doubts he really is, even when he puts on a scared expression.

"I don't get it! Both creatures were evenly matched! It should've been a stalemate!"

"Have you begun to figure out yet why I led you all the way to this forest area? If you just look around, then you will see that this area is an exact replica of our surrounding environment. One part wasteland and one part forest. And who thrives in the forest? Bugs! The strongest, most powerful insects rule the forest! So as long as I play my bugs in the forest area, I get a field power bonus! I guess you just weren't listening when Pegasus said that this tournament would have exciting new surprises in store for us! Maybe if you were smart enough to steal the tournament's secret new rules like I did, you'd be getting a field power bonus instead of me!" Weevil cackles madly.

"He cheated! He led us here 'cause he knew he's have an unfair advantage!" Joey calls and Weevil's face scrunches up in anger as he glances over at those watching, noting that even his so called fans are looking at him with distaste.

"Go ahead, call me a cheater, you're all just angry that you didn't swipe the rules yourselves! And because you didn't, little Yugi's about to get stung!" This is when Yugi decides to drop his act and he suddenly starts laughing, making Weevil's attention snap back to him "What? How could you be laughing?"

"Because, take a look at your ferocious Killer Needle now." The wasp lights up and beams of it begin to escape it's body until it explodes.

"W-What? Oh no! My monster! What have you done to my monster?" he looks at the console, no doubt trying to see if he can call Yugi out for something until his eyes rest on the monster's attacks and his eyes widen "This makes no sense! My creature was supercharged with a field power bonus! But according to this, Yugi's creature somehow became just as powerful!"

"Looks like my Mammoth Graveyard got a field power bonus form the wasteland area just like your bugs do from the forest!" Yugi says with a smirk, making Weevil growl, his eye twitching behind his glasses as he mutters to himself in annoyance, prompting Yugi to continue talking "I kept wondering about something on the boat ride here Weevil. Why were we travelling to some remote island just to duel? But as soon as I saw this holographic display grid, it all came together. Every monster has a type of field that it does best on, kind of like a home field advantage. And what makes this island so special is that it contains every type of field imaginable. So when you deliberately led us to this spot, you were clearly hoping to get some kind of field advantage." Suddenly Weevil starts cackling wildly.

"You're awfully clever to put it all together like that Yugi! But figuring out one rule won't be enough! There are surprises hidden under every rock and I know them all!" Lila frowns as she watches the duel continue, not joining in with Tea and Joey's shouts of encouragement. She, and everyone else on the island, are going to have to be careful with these fields, they'll not only test how well you know your deck, but also how well you can over come a disadvantage. Weevil summons another insect that once again gets itself powered up. Yugi plays his Feral Imp and uses the Horn of the Unicorn magic card to boost it's power to make it stronger then Weevil's bug, but the regional champ calls his attack anyway. Despite the points, the imp's counter attack does nothing and the furry green creature is destroyed.

"My imp's Magic Lightning attack should've destroyed your beetle, is this another trick Weevil?"

"No Yugi," Weevil says with feigned niceness "I just thought you knew that all monsters with a field power bonus were also resistant to any type of magic attack! And since my Hercules Beetle easily deflected your lightning bolts, he has more then enough power to destroy your puny Feral Imp and continue to eat away at your life points," Yugi's life points drop to thirteen hundred and fifty, as if his imp had never gotten it's power up. Once again there is a round is displeased yells from Yugi's friends, causing Weevil to glare at them, while Lila glances over her shoulder, a lot of the people gathered in the bushes watching also seem to be seeing the champ in a new light. Even if Weevil did win, guaranteed he'd be losing himself more then a few fans with how he's acting. Still the short brunette turns back to the duel, where Yugi has a monster in defence mode and Weevil is of course mocking.

"So we're defending now are we? Very clever! Since I can't see your monster's defence points, I can't be sure I can beat it, but even your strongest monsters can't stand against my Basic Insect! Not only does he get a field power bonus but I'm upgrading him with a Level Three Laser Cannon and a Level Two Power Boost!" It's the same card he used to power up his Basic Insect in his duel with Rex Raptor.

"No! His insect's so powerful now my defence won't stand a chance and after it falls, my life points are next!"

"Now Yugi for all the innocent little bugs you've squashed, stomped, crushed or fumigated, it's payback time!" Weevil launches his insects laser cannon attack and Yugi ducks behind the podium to shield himself from the blinding light of the attack. His defence monster isn't so lucky "You'll have to do better then that, if you hope to survive my bug's laser powered arsenal!" Once again Yugi plays defensive. Weevil once again starts taunting the uniform clad boy and is even cocky enough to play a face down and tell his opponent that it's a trap. A big mistake usually, but Weevil doesn't care. Lila notices that same thing as Yugi, Weevil's loud taunts and brags mean he isn't paying any attention to his opponent as he keeps summoning more monsters without attacking while Yugi simply passes his turns by drawing cards.

"Just look at our Yugi, he's so confident up there!"

"I know! When he's duellin' it's like he becomes a totally different guy!" Lila looks at Joey, so she isn't the only one who has noticed it. Finally Weevil has a full field and as he summons one last monster he says "Well what do you know! I'm down to my last monstrous insect, and you know what that means, Yugi! You're about to me exterminated!" Yugi doesn't seem phased as he draws and smiles at the card in his hand "Alright Weevil, I defend with the Dark Magician!" Despite saying the monster's name, Yugi still plays it in face down defence position. Lila tilts her head to the side. This must have to do with that face down Yugi played all those rounds ago.

"Excellent, I'll destroy your very favourite card first! No, my pet! Power up your laser cannon!" Weevil cackles as he commands his Basic Insect to attack. The moment the attack is begun, Yugi begins to chuckle to himself, making Weevil looks at him, eyes wide with mild horror "Why are you laughing?"

"Weevil, you're not the only one who can set a trap card. You were so busy grandstanding you paid no attention to the cards I put into play."

"But I thought they were all monsters c-cards!"

"Not all. While you loaded the field with your bug monster, I prepared a special surprise, the power of my Mirror Force trap card!" Lila smiles, that's her favourite trap card. Weevil tries telling his monster to halt it's attack but it's too late. The cannon fires at the purple clad magician that appears crouched on the field and a shield of light appears in front of him, shattering and sending the attack flying back at Weevil, dropping his life points down to a measly five hundred and fifty five. Lila frowns again, that's not what Mirror Force does, sure is destroys all monsters but it doesn't do anything to life points. Still she shrugs it off and doesn't say anything, it probably has to do with all this stupid unknown rules.

"My life points are devastated!" Weevil looks down at his display with disbelief.

"You're a liar and a cheat Weevil, but it was your overconfidence that allowed me to get the best of you. Your insects are decimated, your life points are low, and as you yourself said before, you have used up all your monsters!" Of course no one is surprised to hear that Weevil lied about that as well as he starts bragging about his most powerful monster that he still has yet to play making Lila roll her eyes. Do all tournament winners have such annoying duelling personalities? This guy's starting to give her a headache. Still the rest of the group are happy to continue shouting praise and encouragement until there is a loud scoff making them turn to see that blonde lady from the boat ride to the island.

"You losers don't seem to realise who your little pal is up against. Weevil's regional champion. He's got moves your shrimp couldn't even dream of!" Clearly Mai has yet to see who she's actually calling a shrimp. Tea get's particularly steamed up and starts yelling at Mai, only to be ignored as she older woman steps forward and stands next to Lila.

"And miss the chance to watch a champion like Weevil as he turns this around? No way."

"Yeah, I mean Weevil really came from behind to win the Regionals," Joey's comment is added too by Tristan "He's tough and sneaky."

"Whose side are you two goofballs on anyway?" Lila shakes her head at Tea antics, turning to pay less attention to the angry brunette and more on the duel. Joey and Tristan do have a point, and it's good that the blonde is able to put his hormones to one side since he seems a lot calmer then the last time he saw Mai and doesn't seem to be agreeing with her just because she's pretty. Still, she has faith in Yugi, he's always been good at turning things around.

"You may have flattened my army of bugs Yugi, but you haven't won! I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve!"

"You've done an awful lot of buzzing throughout this whole duel Weevil, but I'm still here waiting for you to sting."

"Since you're new to this whole dueling tournament thing, I'll make this simply for you. I'm gonna wipe that goody grin from your face!" Lila glares, what's he mean goofy? Yugi's grin is actually pretty attractive on her face... And where did that thought come from? Her cheeks blush as she shakes it off "Now let's see which lucky bug gets to take the first bite!" He chuckles then his voice takes on that overly innocent tone "Oh! But this little bug won't stand a chance against all your ferocious monsters! Oh well, I'll play him in defence mode."

"That would have been a nice bluff, but I still haven't forgotten about the trap card you played! I'll spring your trap Weevil! But first the Monster Recovery card! It allows me to call back all the creatures I have on the field! Monster's return to your cards!" With Yugi's field now empty, he places his cards back into his deck and shuffles before drawing "And once my monsters are all safely back in my deck, the recovery card let's me draw a new hand. Now all I have to do is sacrifice one of my weaker monsters and your trap is sprung." Yugi summons his Kuriboh and has the adorable brown fur ball attack to set off Weevil's trap. It causes a disgusting worm to spring up and burrow into Kuriboh making Lila shudder as the little monster is destroyed. After this duel, Lila is definitely going to have a problem with bugs.

"Risky move," she comments, making the group and Mai look at her in question "Yugi emptied his field to get rid of a trap and now he has no monsters to protect him next turn. Personally, I would prefer to destroy the trap rather then set it off, it's safer." Mai looks at the shorter girl with interest and nods in agreement, she has a similar frame of mind with face downs. Better to be safer then sorry. At least one of the people in this group has a brain, it seems "Plus look at Yugi's life points. He may not have been surprised but he still took damage."

"I don't give a bee's behind about that stupid trap! I tricked you into recalling your monsters, so you couldn't attack this!" Weevil flips his monster, it's a simple Larvae Moth "Sure he's just a little slug now, but the Cocoon of Evolution will change all that!" The Larvae Moth let's out an unpleasant squishing sound as it spits out a stream of silk that it uses to surround it's body, a grossed out look spreads on the faces of Yugi and his friend, even Mai looks a little disgusted as Weevil coos "Isn't it beautiful!" _Yep_, Lila thinks _Definitely going to have problems with bugs from now on._ She shudders again.

The cocoon is finally ready, it's a large, pink, wrinkly egg like thing with strands of web connecting it to the field around it, every so often a loud squishing can be heard from it "Behold! My Cocoon of Evolution!" Weevil cackles madly "Within this cacoon sits my time little Larvae Moth! And over the next five turns he will undergo a startling transformation, from harmless caterpillar to unstoppable Great Moth!"

"Then I'll crack your cocoon before that happens!"

"Easier said than done Yugi! For my Cocoon of Evolution also gets a field power bonus from the wilderness around us, increasing it's defence points! It'll be so strong, you won't even be able to scratch it's surface. Just five more turns Yugi! In five turns, my Great Moth will fully evolve and finish you off!" Lila watches with baited breath as Yugi frowns down at his hand and takes a moment to consider his move before summoning Gaia and having it attack. But it's not enough and she swallows nervously as she watches his life points drop down to seven hundred and fifty. He still has the lead but only just. As Tea and Joey try to shout out encouragement, Mai simply snickers to herself, making the taller of the two brunette girls turn to her with a glare, snapping "Just what do you think you're laughing at?"

"All that stupid cheerleading you're doing. You make it sound like your Yugi still has a chance," as Tea reacts to that in anger, Joey has to physically hold the girl back from acting out her aggression towards the blonde woman, trying to calm the irate girl while Mai continues "Any duellist that's ever gone up against Weevil's Cocoon of Evolution has been totally trashed." Lila looks to the other woman and blinks as Tristan and Joey voice her thoughts, _All of them_? That's some streak for Yugi to try and beat. Lila looks down, her brows pulling together with concern.

A few turns pass on either side, Weevil simply bragging and taunting as he waits for his cocoon to ready while Yugi resorts to putting his monsters in defence to try and protect himself just in case. Something it's starting to look like he's going to need.

"Hang in there Yugi!"

"Ya gotta win this for your grandpa! He's counting on ya!" Joey calls making Yugi look over at his gathered friends.

"I know he is..."

"Then you can't keep lettin' this little creep push your around! Yugi, ya gotta get fired up!" While the group's attention is pulled away by Mai's insults and instants that they aren't going to help Yugi with their cheers, Lila glances up from the ground in time to see his eyes widen, like he's just gotten an idea from Joey. He looks over to the group and holds a thumbs up at them with a grin, making Lila smile, yep that boy definitely has an idea, and it seems to take Mai by surprise.

"I don't know Mai," Lila says, glancing over her shoulder at the attractive blonde "I'd say having friends might just have helped Yugi out after all." Lila smiles while Tea's expression turns smug and she sticks her tongue out at the older woman, making Lila sigh and mentally face palm, that girl has been spending way too much time with Joey and Tristan if she's starting to act like that.

"Go! Curse of Dragon! Take flight!" a pale yellow, skeletal dragon appears on the field next to the knight with a screech "And I'll combine it! With this magic card! Attack, with Dragon Flame!" While the dragon's flames do nothing to harm the cocoon itself, it does burn up the plants and ground surrounding the cocoon.

"What do you think you're doing! You know your little firefly can't hurt my cocoon!" Yugi simply laughs at Weevil's words, making the boy angry and demand to know the reason, which Yugi offers with ease "Whoever said I was aiming for your cocoon? I combined my Burning Land magic card with my Curse of Dragon, to destroy the forest all around your cocoon!" Understanding dawns in Weevil's eyes "No forest! That means... I lose my field power bonus!"

"Exactly. Your cocoon was too tough to attack directly, but without it's field power bonus, it's just a big target!" he once again has Gaia launch an attack, this time the knight's lance pierces through the hard silk shell with ease. However while the group cheers, Weevil is suddenly cackling with glee as the smoke clears showing the hole in the cocoon. That squishing sound can still be heard. Lila narrows her eyes as she leans closer then gasps. That thing is still alive. There is an eerie cry and some more squishing.

"It's still... still moving!"

"You're surprised?" Mai certainly isn't. There is another wail from the creature as it pulls itself from the cocoon on shaky but strong limbs "I told you Weevil was good."

"I'm impressed that you pierced my cocoon Yugi, but still you were unable to stop the evolution of my ultimate insect, the Great Moth!" the monster that comes out has a body similar in appearance the Larvae Moth it began as, only it's a bright green matching Weevil's jacket and it's grown huge. Even without it's impressive wing span, it's easily as big as the duel podiums.

"But I thought it took five turns."

"So you stopped him one turn early! He's still strong enough to beat you!" Tea gulps and Yugi's face scrunches a little as he looks at the laughing Weevil "So Yugi, feeling outclassed yet? Or perhaps you're enjoying your first major league duelling loss."

"Hm. You may have gotten your prized monster onto the field Weevil, but I'll still find a way to squash that oversized bug!" The moth is commanded to lift into the air where it faces off against Yugi's dragon, which screeches in response to the challenge, Weevil simply laughs it off "I think it's high time I pay back your knight for demolishing my cocoon! This is it Yugi! My Great Moth will crush your defences, slay your knight and blast your dragon from the skies!"

"Not if I can help it Weevil!" without his opponent noticing, Yugi slams down a face down.

"But that's just it, you can't help it! Moth! Hurricane attack!" Yugi's face down monster is shown to have been Beaver Warrior and the moth destroys it "It's hopeless! Nothing can stand against the gale force winds of my moth hurricane! Your knight will be totally blown away!" There is a dust cloud that obscures Gaia, however before he is destroyed, Yugi is able to counter by using his polymerisation, allowing him to fuse his knight and dragon. The new monster is the knight mounted on the dragon that has risen into the air to stand head to head against the great moth in the pollen filled sky.

"I'm not some beginner, I know that fusion does!" a quick glance over her shoulder at Joey let's Lila know that her friend doesn't guess he and Mr Muto didn't get to that point, something she and Yugi are going to have to rectify.

"Then you must know it increases my attack points. My fused Dragon-Knight combo is now powerful enough to go head to head with your Great Moth!" all that does it make Weevil burst out laughing and point dramatically to the monster in question "I wouldn't be so sure about that! Look again!" Yugi frowns and glances at his display, his eyes widening at what he sees "My knight. He's losing points. And fast... but how? And Why?"

"It's poison Yugi. Poison particles from my Great Moth. Each time it uses it's Hurricane Attack, it releases tons of these tiny toxic particles, and your precious Dragon-Knight combo is being poisoned by their deadly touch!" before Yugi's eyes, his monster's attack power continues to fall with each passing moment "Looks to me like my poison particles are taking their toll, Yugi!" Yugi clenches his fist and looks down at his deck as he draws. Lila's clenched fist raises to her heart as she watching, barely remembering to breath it's so tense, even Joey and Tea have quietened down.

Mai looks over at the quieter girl of the group and takes the moment observes her. She's wearing a duelling glove, so she's perspective competition but right now, she's more interested in glancing between her and the Yugi boy. When she saw them earlier on, on the boat, she acted in a more sisterly manner towards the shorter boy but now, as she watches this Yugi that Mai swears looks different, it doesn't look so much like sisterly concern. The blonde files it away for later thought as she looks back to the duel.

"Ready to be rained out Weevil? Makiu, the Magical Mist!" dark clouds being to cover the field just above where the monsters are flying and a heavy downpour begins to fall, washing away the particles of poison, much to Weevil annoyance, and soaking the entire field "No fair! I was about to win and you save yourself with a little drizzle?"

"It's true, I saved my knight, but that's not all I did!"

"All right then, you may've stopped my poison attack, but I promise, you've only won a brief reprieve! Because my next move is on you won't be able to think your way out of! Brace yourself for my ultimate insect's ultimate attack! Great Moth! Tornado of Doom!" The red eye like orb on the moth glints as an energy gathers between the legs and body of the creature. Yugi tries to keep his cool but slight worry makes it's way onto his face as he watches the growing power, which is fired right at Gaia, complete destroying the monster "A direct hit! Your little rainstorm didn't save your from that one, now did it? You knight is toast! And you're almost out of life points." Lila looks to the counter and her eyes widen, he's only got fifty left. Once again the group returns to shouting out encouragement, much to Mai's irritation.

"You're nuts. Weevil has totally annihilated Yugi's strongest monster combo. He's down to fifty measly life points. He can't win, so do my a favour and stop yapping."

"I won't stop yapping you selfish, pompous, bleach blond, know it all windbag! Do us a favour and get lost, right Joey?"

"You said it. Just ignore her Tea, Yugi's in trouble!"

"I know, but what can we do?

"I dunno, but it'd be great if we could trade Mai in for life points," Tea falls over slightly as she laughs while Mai huffs, clearly not amused with their antics, shaking her head "I told you all along Yugi never had a chance at winning this thing. He wastes too much of his time listening to you losers. Weevil keeps his mind on the game."

"Then why didn't he see this coming?" Tristan pipes up, standing next to Lila who is staring up at the duellist in question with wide, hope filled eyes and a big smile as she sees Yugi's own smile as he stands there is his eyes closer and an almost unnoticeable shake to his shoulders like he's enjoying a private joke.

"See what coming?"

"Whatever it is Yugi's grinnin' about!"

"You're right, he's got a big smile."

"He's not smiling. I think he's laughing," Mai looks at them like they're crazy as she turns back to the duel then her eyes widen in disbelief when she sees they're telling the truth. Yugi's silent chuckles turn into a loud laugh that has Weevil unsettles as he demands to know the cause of "Weevil, I know it will be very difficult for you to accept losing a duel, especially after spending so much time finding inventive ways to cheat! But if you thought bending the rules would help you in this match, you're wrong."

"No! This is a trick!"

"You play dishonestly, so you expect the same of your opponents, but I duel with honour Weevil, and that makes all the difference!"

"You've got nothin'!"

"Here's what I've got. The Summoned Skull!" the skeletal creature appears with a covering of purple clouds, from it's back two large, dark blue bat wings rest, giving it an even more fearsome look to go with it's bone armour "This is it Weevil. Your ultimate insect won't withstand my next attack." Yugi takes note of Weevil's expression, how unphased he seems "There's something you overlooked Weevil. My magical mist is still dampening this entire field." Weevil and Mai both gasp at the take in the wet field and the soaked through moth, struggling to fly with it's drenched wings "And my Summoned Skull attacks with electricity, making your waterlogged bug a giant sized lightening rod. I hope you're in the mood for some fireworks Weevil, because all that water boosts my monster's electrical attack by one thousand points! Summoned Skull! Lightening Strike!" The creatures raises it's arms and spreads it's massive wings as sparks being to cover it's whole body before it fires them at Weevil's moth. The moth lets out a final cry at it explodes, the field filling with flames to the awe of the gathered crowd, the glow flickering across Yugi's face "It's over. I won."

There is a round of cheers from the gathered friends while Lila lets out a breath of relief. Even Mai gives a looks of being grudgingly impressed. As the crowd wanders off, Mai included, Yugi and Weevil leave their podiums. Weevil is bawling, unable to believe his loss as Yugi walks over to him "You call yourself a champion Weevil, but you only won your duels through lying and cheating. True champions, they play with honour. They play fair." Yugi takes his star chips and steps to the side as he places them into his glove.

"Ah don't waste your breath on this sneaky slug! He's a duellin' disgrace!" Joey physically removes Weevil's glove from his arm "And I hereby relieve him of his dueling gauntlet!" Yugi looks down at his glove as Lila comes over to him "There. Three star chips so far. But I still need to win seven more..." he looks up at the castle "Ten star chips will gain me entry into that castle, where they're holding my grandfather, and where I'll battle Pegasus once and for all!" He then looks over at his friends and is pulled into a tight hug by Lila who tucks her head under his chin. With a smile, he wraps his arms around her shoulders, stroking her upper arm and she lets out a loud sigh. She doesn't look up but does say "If all the duels are going to be like that, I'm going to have a panic attack, I swear." He chuckles and let's Lila get the hugging out of her system, not noticing Tea throwing the other brunette a slightly dark look.


	5. 05 Lady's Turn

_**_**Okay my first chapter that isn't based on an episode. It's actually pretty tricky to write an 'episode' without a guide. I tried to make it seem like it would fit with the show. Let me know what you think. I'm just glad it didn't wind up ridiculously short compared to the episode chapters, hope for the future, ya know. Also I'm aware that some of the monster's my OC's OC opponent uses probably didn't exist in the Duel Monsters era of the card game, especially**_**__**_**the cards I'm using as the focus of her deck but I figured since they weren't Synchro or Tuner monsters they were safe. Hope none of you mind. Also this chapter took some rewriting, I didn't know the official**_**__**_**duellist kingdom rules until after I had finished so I needed to rewrite some of it so this duel didn't violate those rules. Funny considering how often the show ignores the actual rules. Also, while I have Lila's second duel already written, do you think her third should be like this one, where I make up a character for her to face?**_**_

* * *

Five - Lady's Turn

It's a few hours after the group watched Yugi defeat Weevil and all around the island the duels are in full swing. As the others talk among themselves, mainly continuing to congratulate Yugi and tease Joey about his lack of duelling experience, Lila takes a small walk away over to a rocky outcrop in the meadow and takes a seat, pulling out her deck to look over them with a frown. On the boat ride she was confident in her deck, liking the balance but now, after seeing just how different the duels on this island are going to be, she isn't sure. Maybe she should have specialised her deck for a specific playing field more... she shakes her head. Relying on one type of monster has never been her strong suit, she likes too many different ones, she can't help it. She looks through her cards, her mind trying to come up with a way to use this field advantage thing to the best of her abilities. She has a fair few warriors, but also a lot of spellcasters and fairies, plus a few dragons, so she isn't going to find a field that suits all of them, which is going to make things trickier.

"Lila, you okay?" Yugi asks, coming to sit next to her, leaving Tristan and Tea to carrying on mocking the pouting blonde. The green eyes girl is still frowning down at her cards so he gives her shoulder a little nudge to get her attention, making her look over to him "Something on your mind?"

"Nothing major, just..." she trails off as she looks back to her card before exhaling loudly "Yugi, why do you think I got an invite to this tournament? I don't have something Pegasus wants like you and unlike almost all the other competitors, I've never competed in a tournament before. It just seems strange." Yugi nods in agreement "Plus with all these new rules to try and work around, half of which we still don't really know, it's all kind of overwhelming. Part of me just want to give you my two star chips and call it a day."

"I wouldn't take them even if you tried," she blinks and looks back over to her friend "Lila you're just a good a duellist as me, heck you've beaten me enough times for me to know that's true, you're going to do fine. You adapt, that's always been one of your key skills, that and your connection to your cards, anyone who sees you use them know you love them. Besides you can't give up before you've even started. I need you. Gramps is counting on both of us, remember your promise?" She smiles and nods, putting her cards back and standing up "Well then, let's go find you your first opponent, any ideas?"

"Not a clue," the two laugh, drawing the attention of the rest of their group who blink at them, not knowing what's got them in such a good mood "I guess I should go looking huh?" The tri colour haired boy nods with a smile as he jumps from his seat to follow after her.

It isn't difficult to locate groups of tournament participants, most aren't actively duelling, more they are watching other people either just to enjoy the spectacle or tactically, so they can get a better understanding of the decks they might be coming up against and to observe how the fields work with each different monster and battle type. The group make their way though the crowds with Lila at the front, first thing to do is locate a duel arena without such a large group of people waiting. They may be all over but there's still going to be only a finite amount in each area, otherwise what would be the point of making each field unique? Still it starts to get to the point where the meadow might not be the best place to look for an opponent.

"Hey give that back, I only wagered one star chip, you can't take both!" someone yells, making the group pause and look over to one of the fields where there are two girls, one is reaching towards the other to try and take something she is holding above her head. They can't hear it but it's clear that the girl scoffs before she responds with "If you aren't going to be serious, then what's the point in continuing here? Trust me, I've done you a favour, besides, what's the point only betting one? You're just wasting everyone else's time." She turns away from her former opponent and attaches the two chips to her glove. The girl who lost has tears in her eyes as she tries to get her chip back when the winner shoves her to the ground, glaring at her in distaste. Lila's eyes narrow as she makes her way over to the two other girls, helping the slighter of the two up.

"Thanks," she says but keeps her watery hazel eyes on the other girl who flips her coppery curls, looking at Lila with clear distaste in her topaz coloured gaze.

"Who are you? Another low class duellist for me to beat? Honestly, you'd think there'd be a more distinguished tuth out for this tournament," she sneers at Lila but then her eyes widen as the group catches up with Lila, the snobby girl's gaze landing on Yugi "Hey wait, aren't you the guy who beat Weevil earlier today? And didn't you beat Kaiba." Her expression turns into a ever so slightly flirty as she brushes past Lila and the other girl "I'm Sophie Pallant." Yugi shakes the offered hand, frowning a little as he tries to remember why that names so familiar.

"Aren't you second ranking duellist in America?" despite the surprise and slight awe in Yugi's voice and the druelling glances from Tristan and Joey, the girl sniffs in distaste and straightens up, annoyed at the comment "You know it isn't polite to tell a lady she's second in anything." __Even when it's true? __Lila thinks, her brow creasing as the little princess takes the compliments Tristan is instantly heaping on her with an indulgent smile. Clearly thinking she's doing him a favour by letting him swoon over her.

"You'd think a ranked duellist would be better at playing fair," Lila remarks, looking at the copper haired girl with a mildly dark look, making her scoff as she glances over her shoulder at the brunette "If the little baby is only going to wager a single chip each duel, then I did her a favour. No one is going to take her seriously with an attitude like that. Besides, my time's important, I don't like having to waste it on people who aren't worth the effort it takes to draw a card." The girl in question flushes red and she looks down at her feet in embarrassment while Sophie turns her attention back to Yugi. Lila looks at the sad girl with concerned eyes.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"M-Meagan," she sniffs with a slight hiccup, wiping her eyes as tears start to well.

"Meagan, my names Lila, and don't worry, I'll get your chips back," Megan looks her Lila with wide, hopeful eyes while the brunette turns to the spoiled girl, trying to draw Yugi's focus, despite the boy clearly being uncomfortable with her forwardness "Hey princess! So you like all or nothing huh?" With a long suffering sigh, Sophie turns to Lila and raises and eyebrow, a clear sign for her to continue "Well then, how about this. We duel. You win, you get both my stars. I win, I get both yours and you give Meagan back her two." Sophie scoffs.

"Now why would I agree to that?"

"Because didn't you just say not betting all was a waste of everyone's time?" the curly haired girl's face scrunches up and she makes an disgusted noise "Fine, I agree. Not like it'll be a long match. You do remember what your cute friend said right?"

"Yeah, he said you were second, which means we already know you can get beat by at least one person, let's see if we can't get that number up to two," Sophie doesn't bother to make her new glare small or veiled in the least.

* * *

The two girls are both quick to take their podiums, Lila on the blue with Sophie on the red. Meagan stands with Lila's friends, Tea giving her a smile as she stands next to her "Don't worry, I'm sure Lila will get your stars back." Meagan nods, but she doesn't take her eyes from the duel arena as the holoprogectors light up and the two girls place down their decks.

"As you can see," Sophie says with a smug smirk when the field appears "My half of the field is made up of mostly forest with a little meadow, while yours is completely meadow," Lila nods "Well then, since I'm eager for this to be over quickly, I'm going first. I summon Rose Lover, in attack mode." A beautiful, blonde haired female monster in a deep red ball down appears on the field, smiling demurely. Lila frowns, even with the field power bonus, Rose Lover's attack barely passes the thousand mark, for all the big talk, it isn't the strongest opening move, even when coupled with the face down Sophie adds before letting Lila take her turn. Lila draws and looks down at her hand, smiling. Like Sophie, Lila has the monsters to take advantage of the field she is playing on.

"I summon Marauding Captain," a blond haired, armoured knight appears "And his ability means I can special summon any level four or lower monster from my hand, I chose my Relinkuriboh, but I'm playing him in defence mode." The adorable little fluff ball with tiny armour like talons appears on the field, making Sophie scoff "Is that a joke? A Kuriboh variant? Don't you know that any serious duellists wouldn't be caught dead with one of those disgusting puff balls in their decks?" The Relinkurioh on field let's out a cry of indignation while Lila just glares.

"You done mocking my monster or can I carry on? Marauding Captain is going to destroy your little princess," the warrior draws his sword and charges, slicing through the female monster with ease, shattering it "And that takes a nice first chunk out of your life points." The life point counter on Sophie's side drops by five hundred and twenty, just over a quarter but the girl hasn't lost her smug smile "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Thank you, by destroying my Rose Love, you activated her special ability. All I have to do is remove her from play and I can special summon any plant monster from my hand, I chose my Chirubime, Princess of Autumn Leaves," another female monster appears, this one is a human looking from the waist up but the below is make up of a large amber flower "And since that was a special summon, I can also summon Talaya, Princess of Cherry Blossoms." Another monster similar to the first, only this one has a more subdued colouring and the human part is dressed in a kimono. Both monster's also get a field bonus, raising Chirubime's defence to three thousand six hundred and forty and Talaya's attack to three thousand eight hundred and forty, some serious points.

"I activate my trap, Solemn Wishes," Lila says, flipping the card on her field face up but Sophie shrugs it off, saying "So you get a few more life points each turn, won't do you much good Talaya now attacks your captain, which is more then enough to wipe your out in this turn."

"Not when I activate Negate Attack," a barrier appears before Lila's monsters, throwing the attacking Talaya back onto her own field "Sorry but you aren't sending my captain anywhere," __I am, __Lila thinks, looking down at the cards in her hand __If I can get the right cards in my hand.__ It's Lila turn again, and she draws. Smiling she looks over to Sophie. "Since I drew a card I can five hundred life points thanks to Solemn Wishes, next I play Swords of Revealing Light, to prevent you from being able to attack for three turns." __Which is three turns of life points for me if my trap stays around __"Next my captain is switched to defence mode, and I summon Fire Princess, also in defence mode." Lila looks down at the card left in her hand. A powerful monster but it isn't one can can summon right now, and Lila knows all about the abilities of those two monsters, as long as that Princess of Autumn Leaves is around, Lila can't attack other plant types, and the Princess of Cherry Blossoms means destructive spells and traps won't work. Still with Sophie's monster's frozen, Fire Princess is safe and that means damage to Sophie every turn as long as Solemn Wishes remains in play. Sophie shakes her head as she draws.

"I summon Botanical Girl and I equipped her with Vile Germs," this brings the pretty flower petal made girl's attack to nineteen, ninety and raises Talaya's by another hundred "And since I can't attack, I guess I'll end my turn." Lila draws, a spell card, one she can't use right now, but it does put her a step closer plus she gains some life points, activating Fire Princess' effect. The female monster's staff lights up with a flame and she stands out of her crouch just so she can fling the small flame directly at Sophie before kneeling down again.

"Hey Yug, mind explaining what just happened?" Joey asks while Sophie scrunches her normally pretty face up unattractively, clearly annoyed by the trap and monster combo on Lila's field.

"Well Joey, Fire Princess has a special effect. Whenever your life points increase, she deals five hundred points of damage to your opponent and remember Lila's trap?"

"Right," Tea pipes up, butting between Yugi and Joey "So each turn, not only are Lila's life points going to increase, but Sophie's going to take damage? That's pretty smart."

"Right, it's a pretty powerful combo, especially since at the moment, all Lila's monsters are safe," Yugi nods.

"They might be, but thanks to my trap, it won't be for much longer. Heavy Storm Duster," a whirlwind picks up on the field, destroying the swords surrounding Sophie's monsters and the trap card that has been boosting Lila's points "Of course, I can't conduct my battle phase this turn, but next turn, your monsters are in real trouble." Lila draws, without saying a word, she slams the new monster in face down defence position.

"Really? Is that it? Botanical girl, destroy that face down," the flower girl attacks revealing Lila's Witch of the Black Forest.

"By destroying my witch, you let me add one monster from my deck to my hand as long as it has less then fifteen hundred defence," Sophie waves it off as Lila picks up her deck and looks over the cards. She takes a moment, her hand hovering over one specific card. __Should I risk it? If I don't draw the card I need next turn, then I'm screwed, but if I do... Is it right to risk this whole duel on chance? I promised Meagan I'd get her stars back and Yugi. If I lose this, I can't help him get his grandpa back. Maybe I should play it safe, I've got the life points, I'll survive a couple more turns... __Yugi looks at his friend in concern, able to see her struggle from the frown. Suddenly his puzzle light up, making everyone turn to look at him.

"Lila!" the girl in question is pulled from her thoughts and looks over to her friends, __hey it's that taller Yugi again __"You've had the same lessons with my grandpa as I have and what has he always told us? Believe in your deck. Lila you trust your cards, let them guide your heart." Lila smiles and nods, closing her eyes and taking a breath as she picks the card to add to her hand, hopefully it's not a mistake.

"Are we done yet?Yes? Good, now take your turn so I can finish this." With that it's Lila turns. With a shaky hand and a glance over to Yugi, who nods, she draws, swallowing she looks at the card and smiles.

"I play my Cycle of the World magic card!" the field is suddenly shrouded in mist "This ritual summon requires I sacrifice monsters with a total of eight stars, which I can do with my captain, my Relinkuriboh and the monster in my hand, this let's me summon, Ruin, Queen of Oblivion!" A symbol appears in the mist and three lights appear on the field, two from the monsters on Lila's field and a third to represent the monster in her hand. The lights converge and join into one, which slowly takes the form of a beautiful, pale blue haired woman. The fog clears and Ruin stands proud on Lila's field "And since I tributed my Relinkuriboh, I get to draw one card. Next I equip Ruin with my Silver Bow and Arrow, giving her three hundred more attack. Now Ruin, attack her Botanical Girl!"

"Don't you know anything. With Chirubime on the field, you can't target other plant types on my field."

"Actually I can, see the monster I discarded from my hand was Ruin, Angel of Oblivion and when she's sent to my graveyard, I can target one ritual monster I have, as long as that monster is face up, you can't activate effects when my ritual monsters attack, which means Chirubime's effect doesn't activate." Ruin uses the bow given to her by the equip spell and fires a single shot at the weaker monster. As soon as the arrow hits it, Botanical Girl explodes with a small cry. Dropping Sophie's life points to three seventy while Lila's are holding strong at three thousand.

"My turn, I play one card face down and activate my Dian Keto the Cure Master, giving my back a thousand life points. Now time to get rid of that fake queen of yours. Talaya, attack!"

"Sorry, but Ruin's not going anywhere, all I have to do is remove Relinkuriboh from my graveyard and my monster can't be destroyed this turn," but it still deals Lila near a thousand damage.

"Fine, but how do you like my Ookazi spell card? That's another eight hundred direct damage!" flames begin to appear on the field around Lila, making her duck behind her podium and put her arm over her face to protect her skin. It may only be a hologram but the heat's pretty real. Sophie smirks when Lila looks up. In one round, she's turned the table and now has higher life points. Lila draws.

"I use my United We Stand magic card on Ruin, giving her another eight hundred points for every monster on my field, boosting her attack all the way to forty five hundred!" Sophie splutters out in disbelief "Now Ruin, take out Chirubime!" The arrow she fires hits true and shatters this monster "By the way, did I mention Ruin is able to attack twice? Ruin, take care of Talaya!" This time Ruin takes a moment to line up her shot properly and the monster seems to smirk as she let's the arrow fly. Talaya cries out as she is destroyed making Lila smirk as she ends her turn, now she's turned it around. Sophie growls as she draws then looks at her hand.

"I play the magic card Double Summoning, meaning I get to summon two monsters this turn, so I pick my Rose Paladin and my Revival Rose," the paladin is clad in white fabric like armour with a long lance while the Revival Rose is a three bloomed plant that has an eerie eye in the middle of it's flower. She's played her paladin in attack with her rose in defence "Next my Rose Paladin destroy's your princess and paladin's effect activates. Since your princess was destroyed, I can tribute my paladin to summon Marina, Princess of Sunflowers in defence mode. Finally, I equip my rose with Ring of Magnetism and play a card face down." Lila frowns, that's strange. Why bother making it so Ruin can only attack Revival Rose, since the fairy monster is able to attack twice anyway, it just means she has to destroy it first. It must have something to do with Marina. Lila knew the effect of those other plant princess monsters, but not this one, it makes her a little uneasy, still...

"I summon Amazoness Paladin," the female warrior appears, sword blade down in front of her. With the field bonus and the paladin's effect her attack is all the way to two thousand three hundred and ten, easily enough to deal with the rose, still Lila plays it safe by putting a card face down before she orders Ruin to attack. This makes Sophie start to laugh loudly one the rose is destroyed.

"Thanks, just what I wanted, now Marina let's me destroy Ruin!" The sunflower princess monster smirks as bright yellow petals begin to swarm around Ruin, making the queen look around before, like hundreds of tiny knives, they slice into her causing her to be destroyed "See with Marina on the field, whenever you destroy a plant monster, I can destroy one of your monsters." Lila grits her teeth but with no more cards in her hand there isn't anything she can do.

"I switch Marina to attack mode, Marina destroy that Amazoness Paladin!"

"Go Kunai with Chain!" Lila declares, flipping her trap face up "This puts a stop to Marina's attack, forcing her back into defence mode, plus it also acts as an equip spell, giving my paladin another five hundred points." Sophie clenches the hand resting against the podium in annoyance. Damn this girl and her stupid monsters, they're making a mockery of her beloved plant princesses. "Fine, I activate my face down, Plant Food Chain!"

"Plant Food Chain?" another card Lila hasn't heard of before, dammit, makes hard to know what her next move should be. She looks at the field display on the podium and notices the increase to Marina's attack, but with the monster forced into defence at the moment, that doesn't seem to be that useful. So what else can it do?

"My draw," Lila smiles, it's one of her Command Knights, that'll give another boost to her paladin "I play Command Knight in attack mode." The holographic form of the female knight emits a faint red aura that transfer to the paladin to show the power up effect she gives, raising the paladin's attack to three thousand two hundred and ten, and the knight's own attack of nineteen sixty isn't too shabby either "Now my paladin destroys Marina!" The warrior leaps forward and brings her sword down, slicing through the plant princess. But this time the effect doesn't activate, meaning Marina has to stay on the field after the attack for her effect to kick in. Good to know.

"Since you destroyed a plant monster over level five, my Revival Rose gets to come back and due to the effect of my Plant Food Chain, I can bring back any plant monster from my graveyard, so Talaya get's to come back!" Lila grits her teeth, dammit she had a hard enough time getting rid of her before, this isn't good.

"Yugi, what's Lila going to do? Ruin has to be one of the strongest monsters in her deck and without her Lila doesn't stand a chance," Tea says, looking over to the still slightly shorter then her boy who is watching the duel intently.

"You have to believe in her Tea, Lila can get out of this."

__Thanks for the confidence, __Lila thinks with a worried glance between the two fields __But I can't see anything to change things around right now. At least she has to attack my paladin. __Which Sophie does, not even bothering to summon this turn, just attacking and dealing just over six hundred damage, things are not looking good right now. Lila's holding on by a thread, she just needs a way to stall for time until she can regroup and gather her self to come up with a new plan. Luckily she draws the perfect card. Her second Command Knight.

"Seriously? Two weak warriors. Fine, Talaya attack the one on the left!" but the monster doesn't obey, instead she just looks between the two warriors with a frown "Talaya go on, attack!"

"Sorry but Command Knight doesn't just power up warriors. When she's on the field with another warrior, you have to attack the other warrior, and since both my monsters have the same effect..."

"Then that means Sophie can't attack either one!" Meagan declares to the still confused Joey, who looks to the girl "That's so smart, no wonder she's got two in her deck." An annoyed Sophie just ends her turn, crossing her arms over her shoulders and pouts. Lila let's out a sigh of relief, __Talk about luck of the draw, let's see if we can keep this up. __She draws. Magician of Faith, nice. She places it face down. Sophie of course, seizes the chance to attack it. With the magician flipped face up, her effect kicks in, letting Lila return United We Stand to her hand. She draws again. __Huh, Dark Witch. Fancy seeing you here. __Lila smiles, trust her favourite monster to show up in a pinch __She may not get a power up from the two Command Knights or the meadow field, but if I summon her I can add twenty four hundred to any monster on my field. Even if I use my card on her, it's still more then enough to take out Talaya. __"I summon Dark Witch in attack mode!" The female monster has shoulder length blue-black hair and large, angel like wings with feathers in a similar colour, paired with a pair of dark red horns on her head. She's dressed in a short golden dress and armed with a dark red spear. Lila smiles "Plus I can use the United We Stand my Magician of Faith got me back to power her up!" An aura surrounds the with as she draws power from the other two monsters "With forty two hundred attack points, that's more then enough to deal with Talaya. Dark Witch, attack with shining spear!" The angel's red spear lights up as she flies forward and slices it through the plant princess, destroying her.

"You just keep bringing those princesses out and Lila'll keep knocking them down!" Joey cheers, pumping a fist into the air, making Sophie turn to look at him and snap out "Why don't you keep your trap shut!" The blonde boy is a little taken back by her quick aggression but Lila simply rolls her eyes "It's your turn." Sophie's gaze snaps back to Lila, her teeth gritted as she looks down at her hand. Nothing she has can beat that powered up witch. So she summons her Botanical Lion in defence and switching her Revival Rose to defence. Lila quickly destroys the lion, leaving Sophie in the same predicament. And this time she doesn't have any monsters, at least not at the moment "I play Card of Sanctity, so now we both have to draw until we have six cards!" Now that's more like it.

"I set a card face down and summon Queen Angel of Roses, with that I end my turn," Lila simply smiles.

"Purposely leaving a weaker monster in attack position with a face down is a clear trap," Sophie glares "Still it normally works and it would if it wasn't for the fact you let me draw more cards. Meaning I can use my Mystical Space Typhoon," it destroys the card that it revealed to be Magic Cylinder "I also equip my Dark Witch with the Black Pendant to give her another five hundred attack," a dark purple jewelled necklace appears around the monster's neck "Dark Witch, take out that angel of roses!" The spear lights up and she uses it to destroy the angelic, ball gown wearing monster, also wiping out the rest of Sophie's life points.

"I-I lost! No way! I refuse to accept it! This- This wasn't official, it doesn't count!" Sophie screeches loudly as the podiums begin to lower to competitors "I refuse to believe some no talent joke that you could beat me! It was a total flook so it doesn't count! I demand a rematch!"

"Seriously?" Lila asks as she walks over to the group, smiling up at the now taller then her Yugi who's stuck around and gives her a grin back "You go on about people wasting your time when they lose to you but you've lost and now you're demanding a rematch? Why can't you just accept you lost and move on? Use it as a learning curb, like the rest of us."

"Do you know who you're talking to? I'm a tournament professional, you're just some dumb kid who lucked out on her draw. Who cared what you say, I say this duel wasn't official so it doesn't count. I'm out of here," she waves off and turns to walk away from the group, doing her best to ignore the calls from behind her. Lila's fists clench and she goes to storm after the prissy girl when Yugi holds her back, shaking his head as he turns to look at Sophie's retreating back.

"It says something about your character with how you take defeat," he says coldly, making the girl pause and look at him darkly "Losing with grace is a talent belonging only to the best of us, without that, it makes you nothing."

"Nothing?!" she screeches like a banshee "Nothing?! I'm one of the best duellists in the world, so I lost one match to a stupid, ugly girl, no one is going to believe you lot over me! I'll just say you're trying to scam your way into getting chips. And don't think I didn't spot your friends not having gloves of their own, are they even meant to be here?" Tristan and Tea throw each other a worried look that Sophie spots and seizes on "so why don't you just let me walk away with these chips that __I won __and I won't say anything about your trespassing friends." She smirks and turns, in doing so, she realises that she and the group aren't alone. A crowd has gathered and seen her entire blow out. She swallows and puts on her best attractive smile but the people aren't fooled.

"You're nothing but a bully!" some one cries out and there is a chorus of agreement while other people shout other choice phrases at her, making Sophie's face turn a shade of reddish purple in anger until she finally loses it "Will you all shut up! You act like I care what any of you think! Well I don't, you're all worthless and stupid, ugly and disgusting! I wouldn't associate with any of you if you were the last people on this planet!"

"You think you're so much better then everyone else, don't you?" Lila asks darkly, making the angry girl turn back to the group "So what, you talk about how great you are and when someone shows you you're not perfect, you can't handle it and throw a tantrum. My brother's more mature then you, and he's eleven. You say you're a professional duellist, but a real duellist treats their opponent's with respect. Something you can't do because you don't know the meaning of the word!" This time Yugi lets Lila walk forward over to Sophie, smiling as he watches her "You think you're entitled to special treatment, why? What makes you so special? So much better then everyone else? Duelling? You've been beaten, accept the loss with grace, give Meagan back her star chips and admit you lost. It's not the end of the world." Despite Lila's rational words, it's clear Sophie is less then pleased, but one look around her and she knows there is no other way out of this if she wants to come out looking good in any way. Making a __tch __sound, she removes the four star chips and slams them into Lila's hand before turning and storming away "Whatever, this joke of a tournament is ridiculous anyway."

Lila smiles at the four chips in her hand and walks back to her group. Meagan stares up at her with wide eyes as Lila places two star chips into the girls hands "Two? But I did wager one and lose, surely you should take it, you did win all of Sophie's." She tries to hand it back but Lila shakes her head.

"Meagan you should have both, think of this as a fresh start, Sophie was your warm up, now go on, I'm sure you've got opponents waiting," with a beaming smile and a few happy tears, Meagan throws her arms around Lila for a quick hug and mutters a string of thank yous before she runs off to join the crowd, the group smiling as they watch her go.

Lila places her two new chips in the glove and smiles, that's four. Yugi places a hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him, meeting his amethyst gaze, absently noting they have more of a reddish tone to them then Yugi's normally do "You did a good thing there, letting that girl carry on with both chips."

"Wasn't her fault her first opponent was a cow was it?" she asks, the two sharing a chuckle. There is a pause, where Lila glances over her shoulder, watching Joey and Tristan getting into yet another mock argument and Tea watching them with her hand against her forehead in exasperation. All three distracted. Lila takes a deep breath and turns to the taller boy.

"You're not Yugi, are you? Not the one I grew up with anyway," the taller Yugi looks at her shocked for a moment before he smiles and nods "I forgot how smart you were."

"Does this have something to do with the puzzle," the taller Yugi lifts it and lets Lila gently brush her fingers over the eye in the centre "I noticed this lights up whenever you appear. But that duel with Kaiba wasn't the first time. I've seen you before at school, in between trips with my parents, there were all these weird instances after Yugi put this together. Who are you?" __Are you dangerous, __she wants to ask but the words won't leave her throat. Still, he seems to understand.

"I'm here to help Yugi, I'm connected the puzzle and through it connected to him. We're a part of each other. I'm... the other him," he tries to explain but frowns a little, those words being the best he can use but they don't quite cover it all "Just know I feel the same way about your friends as he does." She nods, smiling as she he lets the puzzle drop back against his chest "But I should let him return, and no doubt Joey is eager to follow your lead and find an opponent." Lila steps back and the puzzle lights up again, her old friend returning, he blinks his large eyes and looks up at her "You okay Lila?"

"I'm great," she says warmly, wrapping her arms around one of Yugi's and with a laugh, pulling him back to the group. She may not know much about the mysterious other Yugi, but she knows one thing, she trusts him not to hurt Yugi or the others. He hasn't before. He says he feels the same way about them as Yugi, so he's their friend.


	6. 06 First Duel

Six - First Duel

"Okay, bring 'em on! I'm itching to duel and I'm taking on the next player we see!" Joey declares, punching his hand before he proceeds to run over to the edge of the cliff over looking the ocean. While the rest of the group watch Joey with a somewhat dubious expression, Lila simply smiles softly and shakes her head. Once again the image of an excitable puppy springs to mind.

"Y'know, I'm not so sure Joey's up to this," Tea whispers to Tristan, who nods "Yeah, there are tournament-level players here. But don't you think he's smart enough to realise..."

"Here I stand, the next Duel Monsters champion!" he calls out, turning to them and waves, clearly grandstanding for his friends. The other three groan out loud at the blonde's arrogance but Lila just chuckles with a small shake of her head. Well, you can't say the boy lacks for confidence, can you? But then he turns to look back at the ocean and Lila tilts her head to the side, locks of her brunette hair brushing her cheek as she watches the green jacket wearing boy looking down at his clenched fists as the ocean breeze ruffles his hair. Lila and the others make their way over to their friend, with the short girl reaching up to place a hand on his shoulder, making him jump a little as he looks back to them. There is then a quiet moment with the group until something catches Tea's attention.

"Look there!" she points out, making the group turn to see the three visible duel arenas, the noise that caught her attention was a monster making it's attack and winning the duel for it's player.

"Lot's of duelling going on!" Yugi states with a smile. Joey nods "Right, I'm going in!"

"You sure you wanna do this? If you lose, you give up your only star chip!" Tristan reminds and with Tea chiming in her agreement to the statement, causing some of the confidence to get knocked out of the blonde as he falls to his knees with a 'gggh' noise.

"Don't worry Joey," Lila smiles, crouching down to a similar height to her friend "You got this Joey. You've come a heck of a long way since we started teaching you the game haven't you?" Joey nods, smiling a little at the green eyed girls encouragement.

"I hope you're right, this'll be my first official duel and I can't afford to get knocked out at the start," he looks down, his gaze turning serious as he no doubt thinks about his sister.

"True, but not everyone here is a pro," Yugi reminds him, nodding to Lila and then gesturing to himself, Lila nodding in agreement, thinking about Meagan, that girl was probably on a similar experience level to Joey, as opposed to Sophie "I'm sure you can find someone on your level."

"Go for someone easy Joey," Tea... encourages?

"And I guess I should think about which field my cards're best suited for. Like Lila thought of with hers. They're mostly and fighter-types. I... guess that makes this meadow region my kinda turf!" he looks to Lila who nods "A lot like yours huh?" She smiles at him.

"That's right," Yugi beams "See? You know what you're doing!" With Joey sitting on the grass, Lila takes his deck and looks it over. He isn't wrong, since the majority of his monsters are warriors and beast-warriors, like her he has an advantage on a plain meadow but just figuring out his field isn't enough. Just because you have the advantage doesn't mean your opponent won't also.

"You lost crybaby, now give me your star chips!" a female voice calls out, making the group's ears perk up.

"A voice that annoying can only belong to Mai!" Tea snaps, making Lila frowning. Mai's voice wasn't that annoying, that Miho girl the group use to hang around with was a lot more annoying then anything she's heard from Mai. But then, it's not like she really knows Mai all that much. Still the group all get up and decide to investigate what they heard since it's not coming from all that far away.

Turns out Tea is right. It is Mai. She's standing in the middle of a large meadow next to a duel arena. She's obviously gloating, laughing in front of her irate opponent. As they approach Lila thinks, _did he think disguising himself as a bee would help him win? _It's just a stray thought that occurs as soon as she catches sight of the boy Mai has obviously beaten, or more accurate the bright yellow and black striped top he's wearing. It's certainly... eye catching.

"It's not fair, you cheated somehow! How could you know what your cards were when they were still face down?!" Lila overhears as they get closer.

"I'm psychic," Mai smirks, with a glance over her shoulder "And you're, done." She shouts the guy a wink. Bee boy tucks his face into his sleeve and hurries away, seemingly crying into his arm. Mai laughs loudly once more, then gasps when she spots the group making their way over "Well. Look who's here."

"Wow," Joey says, catching sight of Mai's duelling glove "Mai's already won two more star chips." Lila looks between the blonde boy and the beautiful young woman with a keen eye... interesting. She also notices Mai looking at them with an odd glint in her eye, looks like she planning something. Of course she's the only one who spots it, the two taller boys are more focused on staring at the blonde's body while Tea and Yugi aren't really paying too much attention until Mai calls out "Hey Yugi! Are your duels going well?" She makes her way over to the group, ignoring the dark look she gets from the taller of the two brunette girls.

"I'm making progress," Yugi says blandly, causing Mai to clasp Yugi's hand between both of her so she can get a better look at his glove, this of course causing Tea to glare at her heatedly "So you have three star chips, do you? What about you... Lila is it?" The girl in question nods and holds her glove out for inspection. Mai looks at it and gives the girl and actually genuine smile "Four? Impressive. It's good to see the girls showing the boy's their place," Lila chuckles softly "You know I might be up for a duel myself!" At those words, Tea ducks down so she's even height with Yugi's ear.

"Take her!" she whispers angrily, making Yugi blink at her with slight confusion "Knock her out of the contest and off the island." Lila frowns at Tea, she's not use to seeing the girl to act so hostile to another person. Tea normally prides herself on being the happy, friendly member of their group, which you wouldn't be able to tell with how she's responding to Mai.

"Mmm," she puts a finger to her chin and adopts a mock thoughtful expression "You know, I'm definitely in the mood for a duel right now! So get ready, because I challenge..." she then points to the person the others least expected "You Joey!"

"Whaa? You challenge me?" he looks to the woman in owlish surprise. Mai smirks "Do you have the guts to accept?" There is silence as the group stare between the two. After a moment, Mai sighs and prompts a response by saying "Get it? I wanna play you, kid."

"Huh! Guess you heard about my skill," both Lila and Mai roll their eyes at the over confidence "Don't flatter yourself. I overheard you, Yugi and Lila talking on the boat and I know he gave you the only star chip that you have. My motto is, take out the weakest players first," she throws Joey a condescending wink "And considering that you wouldn't even be here if Yugi hadn't given you one of his chips, you've got to be the weakest on the island!"

"Hey... do you have to be so insulting?"

"This time she was being truthful," Tea mutters to Joey, making Lila throw the girl a glare "Mai's ruthless, don't duel her first!" Tristan nods in agreement, reminding Joey "Don't you get it? If you lose this contest, you're out for good!" Tea then turns to Yugi and whispers "Yugi, stand up for Joey! You have to fight her in his place." Yugi looks between the two, taking note of the dare in Mai's gaze and the angry determination in Joey. He also gives a quick glance to the other's in the group. Tristan is clearly in agreement with Tea on having Yugi take over the challenge but Lila gives him a slight shake of her head. Looks like she's thinking the same thing as he is "This is his decision to make." Joey seems a little shocked and actually turns to look at Yugi "Show Mai what you're made of!"

"Right, she thinks I'm a pushover, but she'll see!"

"Yugi," Tea frowns.

"You can't be serious Joey!" Tristan pipes up, making Joey glance over at him "I've never been more serious! Don't ya see, this is my chance to prove myself. To show everybody. Don't forget, Gramps trained me," at first Joey's voice is full of confidence but then he trails off as he adds to his statement, causing worry to sprout on all his friend's faces "I mean sure, Gramps didn't get a chance to finish my training, and, granted, I wish I'd had a chance to practice more before getting thrown into a tournament this huge with so many heavy-hitters, but honest, I think I can take her." Lila puts a hand on Joey's shoulder and throws him an encouraging smile, ignoring Tristan's "You better be right, for your sister's sake."

"Yeah," Tea says "You'd better now screw this up Joey." During this exchange, Mai has been stood with a raised eyebrow, watching as Joey's friends try to dissuade him from duelling her. It's vastly different to how they all treated Yugi when he duelled Weevil. Joey seemingly ignores their lack of confidence in him and turns his focus back to the attractive older woman "I accept. Let's duel."

"Get ready to lose!" Mai smirks.

* * *

As the two duellist take to the podiums and set up their decks, the other teenagers take to the sidelines, looking up to watch their friend, Tea and Tristan calling up to offer support while Yugi and Lila watch in a slightly more subdued manner.

"Since you only have one measly star chip, I only have to bet one of mine against you," Mai explains as she removes one from her glove and places it on the field. Joey nods and thinks about the advantage the field will give him, that is until he actually looks at the field itself and makes a noise of shock as he calls out "Huh? Oh no! What're all those mountains doin' on my field!?"

"The field we'll battle on is forty percent forest, forty percent mountain and the last twenty percent is meadow. So deal with it or surrender," Mai shrugs and Lila frowns as she takes a closer look at the field while Yugi tries to ease Joey's concern by reminding him that he'll still get a bonus from the meadow, even if there is only a little of it. Lila can't help but notice that Mai's side is almost totally taken up by the mountain field, and she was pretty eager to get that side. That's the probably with duelling an opponent at an arena they've already battled at, they know if they can work with the field or not. If she had to guess, she'd bet a mountain field is just the field Mai's deck works best on.

"Listen Mai, not for nothing, but I gotta ask you one question before we duel," Joey pipes up, seemingly out of nowhere, which catches Mai's interest "Why did you decide to take part in this tournament? Tell me Mai, why is it you duel?"

"Why do I duel?" those word are said seriously, then her voice takes on a slightly goofy tone as she starts to rattle off a list of things duelling is able to get her "For all the comforts I crave! Designer clothes, travel perks, anything to avoid real work. Hot cars, turbo charged for living large!" Lila ducks her head and laughs softly to herself. Ok, she's starting to like Mai more and more, even if she does seem a little self centred and superficial.

"So that why you want the prize money? How selfish!" Joey's response instantly seems to get to Mai and she snaps angrily at him "How dare you judge me, who'd you think you are you pathetic little snot!" Easy to see where Mai is coming from, the group doesn't know her, so how is it fair for them to cast judgement for her choices and life style?

"Hey, you're only duelling for things. But for your information, some of us fight for the people we love," the group smiles, knowing Joey is talking about Serenity.

"You'll show her Joey. Show her what it's like to duel from the heart!" Yugi encourages. The two opponents start their duel. Mai let's Joey go first and the novice takes a moment to look at his hand. It's almost completely made up of monsters, meaning there isn't much variety to what he can do. Despite what Lila and Yugi have been telling him about adding magic to his deck, he still tends to rely on the strength of his individual monsters.

"Hmm, so to start the game off, Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman!" a samurai in green clad armor appears on his field "The field power bonus will bring his power up over three hundred points! Hey, I made my first move!" Lila rolls her eyes fondly. But then she turns a critically eye to the field, or more specifically to Mai. The blonde closes her eyes and starts to humm softly to herself. The spectators notice she had her hand laid out in front of her, face down so she can't see them. It's weird.

"What do you think you're doing?" Joey asks incredulously.

"Divining my cards," she says cryptically with a small smile to herself "I have to mystically choose which of them's the best." This of course, freaks out Joey "Eh? What're ya, a psychic?" She doesn't answer his question.

"And the best card would be... The Harpie's Lady!" a beautiful female monster appears. She's relatively human looking except for the talons instead of hands and feet and the blue, feathery wings sprouting from her arms. The monster has long, reddish pink hair and faintly blue skin, she's also wearing a skin tight, almost gymnastic style outfit that emphasises the monster's shapely figure. _Someone certainly had fun designing her, _Lila thinks as she looks the monster over "Her strength is boosted by the field power bonus!"

"I'll still take it on! Attack!" Joey commands recklessly, meaning Yugi's call comes too late "Joey wait! Land monsters are at a disadvantage to flying monsters!"

"And her monster is stronger then yours! Your sending you monster in to get destroyed!" Joey looks over at his friends when Lila yells and points to the field making him watch as the Harpie Lady easily evades the samurai's strike and she uses her wings to fly into the air, directly above the warrior "Because of the new field rules, monsters that can fly have a weird resistance against monster that are bond to the land!" Tea looks to Yugi at Lila's call.

"So Joey blew it already?"

"No, but he attacked too soon before he thought about what her monster was capable of, and like Lila said, these fields provide new rules to deal with," the group watches and Harpie Lady swoops downs and uses her talons to slash the samurai into pixels.

"My samurai's sushi!" Joey cries out as his life points drop to fourteen hundred and ten. Mai then makes a big show of playing her next card, which again, she doesn't look at. Lila frowns and tilts her head to the side. Mai is certainly making a big deal of how she chooses her cards, almost like she wants all of Joey's focus to be on the fact she is looking at them before she picks, rather then on him actually playing his own cards. One of the tiles behind her monster lights up, so it's a face down spell or trap. Not good, Joey doesn't have a lot of defence against those. As Joey stresses out over what Mai is doing, Tea and Tristan make their lack of confidence in him known. Yugi tries to reassure his friend but is does nothing, Joey frowns down at his hand and just throws out another monster, more focused on Mai then any thought for a strategy.

"Maybe this on. Tiger Axe," a bipedal, armour clad tiger which, as it's names suggests, is armed with a large axe, appears on Joey's field "My field power bonus should raise it's attack power so it can take on the Harpie's Lady head to head," Lila shakes her head at Joey's reasoning. If the points were all he had to focus on he'd be right, but they aren't.

"Joey you aren't thinking!" she scolds "She's still resistant to ground based attacks! Your tiger can't fly!"

"Right," Mai smirks, agreeing with Lila "Tiger Axe is another handicapped earth based monster!" once again Mai's monster destroys Joey's, and she ignores the tiger's attack boost due to her own field bonus "Hmph! It'll take stronger monsters then your land based wimps to beat my Harpie's Lady! Now I'll play this lovely card without even looking," Mai lays another face down "I'll give you a hint, it's an equip magic card that'll help me defeat your next card in one turn."

"Again with the psychic stuff?" Mai's psychic game is clearly getting to Joey, everyone can see it as the boy looks at his cards, stressing over whether it's only her own cards Mai can know without looking. Not sure what to do, Joey decides to play defensively and sets his monster.

"Running scared huh? Well let me show you my surprise. Cyber Sheild, to juice up my Harpie's Lady!" a metallic armour covers to torso of Mai's monster with some extra adornments around the monster's upper arms and her thighs, it raises her attack even further. The monster simply dives onto the defensive monster, crushing it beneath one of her taloned feet. Destroyed but at least Joey's life points didn't take a hit this time.

"How's she doing that?!" Mai just laughs loudly "This is so much fun," she then leans forward and with a smugly confident expression says "In case you were wondering, the next card you were thinking of won't work either."

"Mai has ESP, that has to be it. I'm gunna lost this duel, and the chance to save me sister," Joey mutters to himself, looking a mixture of angry and dejected. By this time, other people have started to notice and are slowly making their way over to the field to get a better look. Mai laughs again and throws some mild taunting Joey's way, which the boy takes to heart.

"Settle down," Yugi calls, trying to draw Joey's focus away from Mai and help him focus more on his play "Joey, remember what my grandpa taught you about how to play Duel Monsters."

"Don't let her rattle you!" Tea joins in, shouting to the nervous blonde "She's just trying to psych you out!" Hearing Tea's words, Mai turns her focus to the taller of the two brunette girls and throws her a dark glare as she snaps out "Stay out of this!"

"Huh?" Tea looks at Mai with confusion colouring her features.

"Your brainless cheerleading isn't going to help him against the superior power of my Harpie Ladies," _except it's not the monster that's throwing Joey off, if he was able to focus, he'd be able to come up with a way to beat her, _Lila thinks as she keeps her focus on Joey "Don't you get it yet? Friendship doesn't win duels, never will. It hasn't helped him. He's defeated and he knows it."

"Not true!" Tea reacts.

"No? I beg to differ. There can be only one champion. On this island, in this game, someone can be your best friend today and your worst enemy tomorrow. Once the competition forces you to face each other in a duel... where's your friendship then?" that catches not just Joey's attention but Lila and Yugi's as well. The two shorter duellist glance at one another in concern. Mai does have a point, even if they both get to the finals, they'll have to face each other eventually, and while they have duelled before, that was for fun, with nothing on the line "That's why the only person a duellist can trust is himself. I hope that your defeat today teaches you that lesson kid." When Lila looks back to Joey, her eyes turn soft as she watches him shaking, a mixture of fear and anger.

"He's losing it!"

"He needs help, Yugi help him!" Tea prompts him. He looks over at her, his expression serious and the eye on the puzzle lights up. And right before their eyes, they see him change, becoming that other version of him, but Lila seems to be the only one who really notices the difference, the others seemingly writing it off if they can even tell there's a change at all. This taller Yugi looks back to Joey "Don't listen to her Joey, we're here to help you, just like you're always there for us!" Mai and Joey both look at Yugi in shock.

"Huh?" Mai looks at him and blinks, that's not the same boy from earlier, but then how could that be? And the others haven't reacted. Are her eyes playing tricks on her?

"Trust me on this. She's just trying to divide and conquer, a strategy that's been used for centuries," an eye, similar to the one on the puzzle, lights up on Yugi's forehead "Believe me, I know."

"When you get that look in your eye, I believe everything you say," Joey says with a slightly awestruck tone as he looks at his friend. Trying to hide how Yugi's confidence has unnerved her, Mai puts on a force laugh that doesn't really fool anyone into thinking it's authentic "Do you really think Yugi wants you to be the grand prize winner?! He's a duellist too, ya know. To win you'll eventually have to take him on."

"She's right, we will have to duel... but...," Joey thinks about what they said on the roof top but then, under his breath, he carries on with "We are a team. But I have to win this contest, for Serenity," he can't help but think about that video tape, about his sister's words "What do I do? Maybe Yugi's right about this thing. I have to stop listenin' to Mai's nonsense and start usin' my head," Joey seems like he's trying to fight back tears, the pressure of everything on his shoulders starting to get to him "Rrrgh, I just gotta concentrate on how to win the game!" Closing his eyes, Joey tries to block everything else out to try and focus.

_There's gotta be a way to beat Mai. If I can just figure out how she knows what her cards are... if she's not psychic, there must be something else she's doing, _inhaling through his nose, a faint mixture of different floral scents reaches his nose, making him sniff to try and get it again _What's that strange smell? I never noticed that smell when my eyes were open. I'm smelling a bunch of different perfumes, coming from... her cards! That's it!_

"Let's go kid, it's your turn."

"I see through your card trick! You sprayed all your cards with different perfumes. And by smelling each different scent, you can tell which card is which, even when they're face down," Mai's face drops at Joey's words and she makes a noise of minor shock "So you don't have to look in order to play your cards. That way you can psych the other player out."

"No way! How could an amateur punk like you see through my aroma strategy! It's just impossible!" the group look at Mai in shock, jaws slightly dropping.

"How are you able to tell like forty different perfumes apart?" Lila asks, her tone stunned, then she frowns "How did you manage to even find forty perfumes different enough to be told apart? How good is your nose?" Behind Lila, Yugi chuckles at her question. She does have a good point.

"I gotta admit Mai, ya really had me buying in to the whole psychic power schitck. I was too freaked out to think things through because of that," Joey points across the playing field at her, his whole manner accusing "But you're not a psychic at all! You're just a big fake!"

"All right Joey!"

"Go get her Joey!"

"You da man!" the three cheer with a smile. Joey looks over to them and sees them all beaming up at him "Yugi, you were right!"

"Just because you saw through my little psychic act, doesn't mean you're going to be able to defeat me in a duel!" Mai snaps angrily, glaring heatedly at the dorky blond across from her.

"I think you're wrong. Before you were winning by confusing me and trying to pit my against my friends, but now my mind is clear. I know who I can trust. All you've got left is your cheap tricks, and I won't fall for 'em anymore!" Mai is taken back by Joey's new burst of confidence "I'm gunna blast your harpies out of the sky with this!"

"Good card Joey," Lila looks to the taller boy with a frown, how can he know it's a good card, he hasn't played it yet.

"Baby Dragon!" she turns back to the field and sees the amber scaled, tiny dragon as it appears on the field with a squeak. She blinks twice then coos loudly over the adorable little thing. It's looks like a plushie version of a dragon. Tea's expression shows both girls are thinking along the same lines. Mai, on the other hand, is not impressed "Ha! That wimpy card is your grand play? I only wish it was worth some more so when I devastate your it'll do more damage to your life points. My card will be, Elegant Egotist! Its magic will make duplicates of my Harpie's Lady!" The original pink haired one lights up as she flies into the air and the glow splits into three. "Harpie Lady one, two and three!"

The first original Harpie Lady is still there but now she has friends. One with green wind feathers and short, bright orange hair while the other new monster has purple wings and blue hair spiked straight upright.

"I think the ginger one is the prettiest," Lila says with a shrug, making Tea look at her with a frown, to which Lila just shrugs "What? It's just an observation." On her podium, Mai actually chuckles to herself. She's starting to like this Lila girl more and more.

"It's three times the trouble!"

"Now what? He was struggling when there was only one! And Lila's obviously no help right now!"

"Neither Tristan," Lila points her thumb over her shoulder and the pointy haired boy who is pretty much droolling over the three beautiful winged beast monsters on the field "I notice you're not saying anything about him." Tristan, hearing them talking about him, shakes himself out of it and shouts "Don't give in Joey! You've still got all kinds of moves left!" Tea rolls her eyes.

"Really? What moves would those be?"

"How would I know? Ask an expert, ask one of those two," Tristan nods to Yugi and Lila, who are standing, looking at the field, the former with a serious expression while the latter is a little more laid back as she frowns at the monsters. Without looking at the other two, Yugi says "It's Joey's duel, he has to figure it out." Lila nods in agreement. Joey isn't dumb, he can do this. The other two just need a little more faith in their friend.

"I don't have any cards strong enough to beat three Harpie Ladies..."

"Ha! And I'm going to keep using the magic of Elegant Egotist to double my harpies again and again each turn! Haha! But while my harpies multiply, I can't attack you, so it's your move. Of course you'll soon be up against an army!"

"An army of harpies?" Joey mutters to himself, looking down at his cards "How the heck do I fight an army?!"

"Don't give up Joey," Lila calls out, making him look over to her "Think about it Joey. She's basically been doing the opposite of how you play. She's only played the one monster and she's been using magic cards to strengthen it every turn! Using magic cards can be effective but when used like Mai has been, it presents a serious flaw in strategy Joey!"

"Using magic on one card? That's true! She's just been juicing up the Harpie Ladies every turn, but if she has mostly magic cards, maybe the Harpie Ladies are her only monsters! I bet if she can just defeat her harpies, she won't have any monsters left to play!" Yugi nods in agreement with Lila and joins in "That's right, now think Joey, what card in your deck will help you win?"

"Which of my cards?" Joey asks unsure "You tell me." Then his eyes widen _Wait, I think maybe you did! _His mind flashes back to when the three of them were on the boat, him and Lila showing Yugi their new cards. The card that Yugi gave to him "The Time Wizard... This is the kind of tight spot Yugi must have been talking about. Now if I can just remember what Gramps taught me about how to use a magic card, it's my only chance. But do I have it in my hand?" As Joey looks over the cards he is holding, Mai huffs and says with mild boredom and annoyance "If I'd known how long it was going to take you to make a move, I would've brought a magazine."

"Uh-oh. The Time Wizard's not in my hand. I'll have to draw for it," he reaches for his deck then freezes "But what if I don't get it? What if..." Lila looks to Yugi with concern clear in her jade eyes. He steps closer to her and places a hand on her shoulder as the two look up to their friend, willing him to have faith. With his eyes closed Joey pulls his card from the deck. When he dares to look, he let's out a cheer "All right! It's the Time Wizard!" He plays it instantly. The Time Wizard, is a very dorky looking monster. It's basically a round, red clock with arms and legs with a cape and a top hat. It also has a staff. However despite it's silly appearance, it makes Lila let out a sigh of relief.

"What good it that thing?"

"Don't you know? The Time Wizard can make time go faster, causing my Baby Dragon to grow into a Thousand Dragon!"

"Right Joey, and that's not the only effect your Time Wizard will have." The wizard makes a mechanical garble that sounds like it's saying 'time magic' and raises it's little staff. The air all around the Time Wizard begins to swirl in on it and then with a bright green and red light, it shoots out. In the place of the adorable Baby Dragon it a much more mature but still slightly derpy looking dragon laying on it's four legs with a smug grin on it's face. Safe to say both Lila and Tea preferred the look of it's previous form.

"So now you have a big dragon. Big deal! My Harpie Ladies still have greater attack power! Attack it my three harpie sisters!" However then Mai takes a look at the monsters on her field. Their once vivid coloured hair and beauty has faded, they may try to give their viscous cry but they are sat limply on the ground, seemingly too old and feeble to take to the skies one more "What? What happened to my Harpie Ladies? They've gotten so old!"

"A thousand years have passed Mai," Lila points out, making the purple clad blonde look over to her "As with everything, time has taken it's toll on your ladies, they've aged, becoming old and decrepit."

"Face it Mai," Yugi smirks "Time's running out, for you and your ladies." Mai can't quiet figure out what to say as she looks back to her monster sadly. Joey on the other hand is very nearly jumping for joy on the podium "I believed! And the cards came through for me! Awesome! Go Thousand Dragon! Attack with Inferno Flame Breath!" The dragon looms over the aged harpies and fires flames out of it's nostrils, which makes all three ladies, the one duelling and the two watching, scrunch their noses up, yeah, that's gross. With that, Mai's life points drop to zero.

"He did it, Joey won!"

"I knew you could do it!" Lila snorts at Tristan's words, _yeah right._

"Thanks guys!" Yugi throw Joey and thumbs up and a wink in congratulations. Lila just beams happily at him, glad to see him back to the over confident goofball they all know and love.

"How could I ever lose to such an amateur!" Mai scolds herself quietly, but since Lila and Yugi are more closer to her then the others are, they hear what she says, making Lila look over to her. Regardless of how she duels, it's clear Mai loves her harpie monsters and it always hurts to see your favourite monster destroyed, she knows how that feels. She hates it when she loses her Dark Witch and she knows Yugi hates losing his Dark Magician.

"Hey, Mai," the older woman looks up and over to a smiling Joey "I tried to tell ya, there's more to Duel Monsters then just kicking the other guy's butt," Mai blinks and looks at him speechless, she was obviously expecting gloating but he doesn't, he's just nice to her, it's odd "If you're ever gonna be a real champion, ya gotta learn to care about someone. Other then yourself. Isn't that right? Yugi?" The uniform clad boy nods and smiles. Then the puzzle lights up again and the smaller Yugi is back again, but he's no less proud of his friend. As Lila and Yugi look to Joey, standing on the podium holding up a victory finger sign, they can see that Serenity is the thing that gave him the drive to win this, and they both think the same thing.

_I'm proud of you Joey. All your hard work and training paid off. You went from a guy with nothing but eagerness and attitude, to a winning duellist who battles with his head, and his heart._


	7. 07 Attack From The Deep

_**It took so much effort to get through this chapter, obviously people reading this won't know since all my chapters a pre written but still. Attack From The Deep isn't one of my favourite episodes, I found it pretty boring so that made writing it hard to do. Luckily the next few episodes are ones I really enjoyed and I get to put my own spin on them so they should be much easier to write.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Seven - Attack From The Deep

"Whoo-whee! Haha, two stars! This is so awesome, I can't believed it happened! Am I cool or what?" Joey laughs as he stares down at the two star chips on his glove. Yugi and Lila look to each other and chuckle softly at their friend while Tea sighs and shakes her head asking "Is there a time limit on how long he gets to crow?"

"Cut him some slack Tea. Did you ever think Joey would actually beat Mai in a duel?" the group glance over at Joey as he takes the star chip he won out of his glove and starts to proudly polish it with the sleeve of his jacket, a big grin on his face "I mean, Joey... who would've thought?"

"I knew he'd do it," Yugi speaks up, looking over at the two more sceptical of the group with a smile before he looks back to the blonde boy "I'm really proud of you Joey."

"Yeah!" a first Joey's words are as energetic as normal but then there is a loud grumble from his stomach and he seems to lose some of his hyper activity "Ugh, all that duelling made me hungry! Did any of you guys remember to bring any food with you?" He asks, looking to everyone in the group, from three he gets instant apologies since they didn't but Lila frowns and removes the back pack the group realises she's been wearing since they got onto the boat. She crouches down and reaches in to sort through it, the others peeking over her shoulder, until Yugi catches sight of a certain article of her clothing and looks away with a blush, ugh why is it always Lila he has that luck with? The girl he sees almost like a sister, makes accidentally seeing her... he shakes his head and just focuses on looking away, hoping the blush goes away before anyone notices and starts to tease him. The longer haired brunette girl pulls out a couple of food bars and shows them to Joey, at first his face light up but then it drops.

"Seriously? You could bring anything and you pack fruit bars? What gives Lila?" she rolls her green eyes, taking the food bars back, handing one to Yugi, who is a lot less resistant to eating healthily then their friend, then she tear opening the packaging of one of her own as she explains "My dad packed them, count yourself lucky that he always packs them in my bags when I'm not looking or I wouldn't have any food either."

"What were we thinking, coming here with no food? How're we ever gonna get through the rest of the competition without anything to eat?" Joey bemoans, purposely ignoring the food that Lila does have with her.

"That's a good question Joey. This duelling really takes it out of you, and I haven't seen any burger stands or restaurants since we got here," Yugi agrees, taking bites of the fruit bar as he looks at the ground thoughtfully.

"You do know how much catering an island like this would cost right? And they'd have to do the whole island since people could be all over," Lila explains and she takes a couple more bars out before returning her bag to her shoulder "Though with how rich Pegasus is, he'd more then be able to afford it. Guess the lack of food is another factor in this tournament," she then realises that the others are looking at her with large eyes "What? Think about it. If there's no easy access to food, it pushes people to duel more often and therefore get the tournament over quicker. Also it help to test resourcefulness which, let's face it, applies to all aspects of life, not just duelling." Yugi nods along with Lila's words, understanding her argument, though Joey and Tristan and still looking at her like she's just tries to explain a reason why homework is a good thing.

"Well we better do something fast! I've gotta have my five basic food groups or else, it's metabolic meltdown!" Tea snaps angrily, making the rest of the group recoil back from her while Lila just rolls her eyes and opens another food bar before she proceeds to literally shove it into the other brunette's mouth. She instantly quietens down as she chews and swallows, while Lila explains "I don't have too many more of these so they aren't a solution to the lack of food problem, my dad probably assumed, as any sensible person would, that there would be food on this island." That makes the other two with the fruit bars look down at the wrapping, realising how quickly they went through the bar.

"Hey chill out you guys, I got it covered!" Tristan says, to everyone's surprise.

"Yeah?" he then proceeds to pull out a thick book "Check it out, the Great Outdoor Survival Guide!" While Tristan is clearly proud that he remember to bring this book, the rest of the group lacks the same enthusiasm, Joey even going to far to ask if the book itself can be eaten, which it can't... to much ink on the pages "Better then that, it lists all the plants, berries and grasses we can eat!" The other four scrunch their noses up in distaste before Joey snaps at his friend "If I won't touch a fruit bar, why would I eat grass? Do I look like a squirrel ya big doofus?" something then catches his attention and his sniffs the air loudly before he smiles "I don't need your dumb book anyhow, I can smell something cooking that-a-way," he points dramatically, Lila follows his finger and raises an eyebrow, all she sees through the thinning trees is the ocean, but that doesn't stop Joey as he dashes off, leaving the others to stare after him with dumbfounded expressions.

"He's hallucinating."

"Don't be so sure. Ya know, it wasn't his brain the beat Mai, it was his nose," Tristan points out, reminding them of how good Joey's nose actually is. Not wanting to let Joey get himself into trouble, the other four sigh and follow after him.

They come to a rocky cliff where someone has set up a campfire and is cooking some skewered fish. The gang finds Joey crouched behind some rocks, eyeing the fish hungrily and proceed to join him.

"Mmm, aw man, I just loved barbecued fish," Joey declares to the group, not taking his eyes away from the cooking seafood, a small bit of drool escaping his mouth as Yugi comments on the smell "Aw, yeah and I bet it tastes even better!" Obviously that's the limit ot Joey's self control as he jumps up.

"What makes you think those fish are yours to eat?" Tea asks, frowning at the tall boy in disapproval.

"Hey trust me, we seat first and ask questions later! Your stomachs'll thank me," he then proceeds to laugh like and idoit as he rushes over to the camp, making Tea shake her head as she says "Joey! Ugh, he'd say anything to fill his belly!"

"Some people have absolutely no self control," Tristan comments as he crosses his arms, making the rest of the group look at him in surprise, however their expectations are met when he practically vaults over the rocks and follows after their friend, showing who in the group he's actually talking about as he calls out "Joey, save some for me!" Tea makes a noise of disgust as the boys proceed to dig in, each helping themselves to one skewer while the rest of the group makes their way over to them.

"You boy have the table manners of baboon, you know that right?" Lila remarks as she sits down on the rocks next to Tea, tucking her legs carefully away from the camp fire. However her words as ignored as the boys are testing the food, only to discover that, unsurprisingly to anyone who isn't them, that the fish is indeed hot.

"Ready, set, feeding frenzy!" the two boys call about, about to attack the fish when they are interrupted by a harsh voice snapping angrily at them "Enjoy yourselves, you fish thieves, this is your last meal!" Lila blinks and looks over to the cliff with the rest of the group to the young man, maybe a year or so older then the rest of them, shirtless and soaking wet in cut off jeans. Though she barely glances at his bare chest, her focus is more on the massive harpoon he is holding onto, and Lila immediately ducks behind Tristan and Joey "How dare you eat my fish you thieving poachers! Has no one taught you manners-" he is cut off from the rest of his threat when a large wave lands right on top of him and when the water clears, it appears he's been swept away. Lila peeks around Tristan and tilts her head to the side, okay, that was weird.

"So, can we eat now?" Joey asks, glancing around as the fisherman manages to climb his way back up the cliff, though he seems more put out that his big entrance has been ruined then by the fact the group is eating his fish "Alright let's try this one more time."

"I knew this was a bad idea," Tea sighs as she shakes her head, Lila nodding in agreement as she comes out from behind Tristan, a lot less bothered by the harpoon now that she knows it's there and her duck and cover was more from shock then anything else.

"How dare you steal my fish you bottom feeding thieves," he growls out, once again angry at the group.

"Hey, chill out guy, it's just a few fish," Joey tries to calm the situation but he only proceeds to rile up the fisherman some more "A few fish that did not belong to you! And to steal a fisherman's catch is to prove you have no honour."

"Or that you're really hungry," Lila points out, it may not help to dissuade the fisherman's irritation with the group, but it is the truth. It's then that Yugi notices the irate young man is wearing a duel glove, though it is hard to miss considering he's wearing it on the fist he's using to threaten Joey.

"A duelling glove...? Wait a second! Aren't you Mako Tsunami, the top rank ocean duellist?" Yugi asks, shocking the guy, whose name he's guessed right, out of his anger and making him look to the small teenager and ask who Yugi is, of course the multi colour haired boy doesn't get a chance to answer before going pipes up, making Lila face palm.

"Yeah, you're that freaky fish guy."

"I am not a freaky fish guy!" Mako snaps angrily, making the group chuckle to themselves, and just like that, a catchphrase it born "I am Mako Tsunami duellist extraordinaire of the seven seas!" He declares proudly, his duel glove clad hand clasped at his chest, of course the tiny pink octopus that peeps up from his hair ruins the dramatic moment and causes to two girls to duck their heads next to each other and giggle noticeably.

"Eh, what are you laughing about?" Mako asks, blinking at them in confusion, making Tea point at his heas as she explains "Your head. You've got company!" Mako glances up in time to see a pink tentacle slide over his forehead and Joey catches on before he joins in the laughter. Mako growls and roughly grabs the sea creature and hurtles it off back into the ocean, yelling "Off with you!" This causes the two tall high schoolers to cry out "No don't!" and "I wanted to eat that!" While gazing over the cliff sadly. Deciding to ignore the two idiots, Mako turns back to Yugi and asks "Are you telling me that those two are here as duellists?" Luckily Joey is to preoccupied to respond to the obvious insult.

"I'm Yugi Muto. Sorry about your fish," Yugi offers his hand for Mako to shake. The fisherman looks at the short boy with wide eyes "You? You're Yugi Muto, the only duellist to ever defeat Seto Kaiba? Haha! What a fine surprise! It will be my very great honor to face you in a duel!"

"Same here."

"I must apologise, I've been ungracious. If you are friends of Yugi Muto, please! Come sit down, eat your fill," Mako offers the group, making the boys at the cliff perk up and quickly dash over to the camp as they over a quick thanks before declaring "Feeding frenzy!" and digging right back into the fish.

"You're gunna regret that offer," Lila comments as everyone sits back down, accepting a fish from Mako who looks at her in question "Those boys have black holes for stomachs. Give them half a chance and they'll eat you out of house and home, believe me, I know." Mako laughs as he sits back and bites into his own fish in much the same way as Joey and Tristan. The other three are much more laid back as they eat, not going at it like starving hyenas.

"Really good huh?" Tea asks Yugi, who nods his agreement, taking another bite.

* * *

"Wow, that was good!" Joey states with a loud burp as he leans back against the rocks around the camp fire.

"Where'd you learn to cook like that?" Tea asks, causing Mako to laugh before he responds "I've had to fend for myself since I was a tadpole. But it was my father who taught me how to fish and cook."

"So... what brings your here to the competition?" Yugi asks innocently.

"I was raised on a fishing boat, where I learned to love the sea, so if I win here, I would love a vessel of my own. Of course, I'll have to beat a few duellists first."

"You own boat? How great would that be, living life out on the big blue sea!" at Tea's words, Lila swallows and looks out at the ocean before she shudders. Yugi notices and rubs her arm, Tea realises it and blushes a little "Right, sorry Lila, I forgot." The green eyed girl throws a smile in the other girl's direction, waving her discomfort off. Mako is unaware of the exchange as he looks out at the sparkling ocean view "Yes, the ocean is amazing, and we have shared a special bond since I was born. I can tell when the sea is happy by the way it sparkles and when it is angry, by the shifting tides..." he trails off, scratching the back of his head and his expression turning sheepish "Excuse me, I didn't mean to be so serious."

"Don't apologise over something you're passionate about," Lila smiles "You should hear my mother talk about her research." The group chuckle, nodding in agreement.

"You saved out hides! We'd be starvin' without you! This's really been great, thanks again," the group all get to their feet, Lila and Tea taking a moment to brush the dirt and sand off the back of their clothes, Tea her skirt and Lila her shorts and the hem of her oversized t-shirt.

"Nice meeting you Mako," Tea beams warmly as they all turn away and start to make their way back to the treeline as Yugi says over his shoulder "Maybe we'll meet up in the competition." As the group walk away, they miss Mako eyeing his harpoon and lean over to take it "We certainly will... sooner then you think, my friend!" He then proceeds to throw the harpoon at the group, it digging into the rock at Yugi's feet, causing the group to freak out and Lila to once more duck behind the taller boys, blurting out "A freaking harpoon? Are you shitting me?" They look over to the shirtless young man who laughs loudly "I treated you to dinner, perhaps you will honour me with a duel?"

"He's nuts!"

"No, but I am an expert fisherman. And you have taken my bait!"

"What bait?"

"Why, the fish or course! I laid it out and lured you three right in! But I never expected to catch Yugi Muto!"

"Forget this crazy chicken-a-the-sea, Yugi!"

"Yeah," Lila joins in, glaring at Mako as she comes out, keeping her distance from the harpoon "You don't have to give this freaky fish guy the time of day."

"Can't we just give the guy back a few fish?"

"You wanna catch 'em Tristan?" Lila asks the pointy haired teen with a raised eyebrow, which makes him frown. He hadn't thought of that. Mako, looks at the three chips he has in his duel glove as he explains "I reeled in another duellist a short time ago, but he was not a worthy opponent. But a duel against you Yugi, would be a true test!" Lila looks over to the friend as his puzzle lights up and that other Yugi shows up.

"Mako Tsunami, I accept your challenge!"

* * *

The duel arena rises from under the waves, making the group look on nervously as Yugi takes his place on the blue podium. To get a better look at the field, they have to move closer to the cliff's edge, Lila making sure to stay close to the boys. Jokers they may be, but they know about her issues with water so keep quiet.

"The playing field is equally split into two halves, one half is land, the other is sea," Mako explains as the holographic field appears.

"And the stakes Mako?"

"I wager to stars on this match," Yugi nods, taking the necessary stars out of his glove to place on the wager platform "Two stars." Lila smiles, a little relieved. Even if Yugi loses this match, it won't knock him from the tournament, sure it'll put him back to where he started and take him longer, but he'll still have a chance "Duel!"

"This should be some match," Tea remarks, stepping closer to Lila, who nods in agreement, she may not have seen Mako's duels but if he ranked third, he's definitely got to be good.

"Sink that soggy sucker Yugi!" Mako takes the first turn saying "I'm curious to see how you will combat my mighty denizens of the deep," as his plays his first card. But unlike with every other duel on these fields, the monster doesn't appear. Instead the glow lights up under the water.

"What's this? His creature is underwater! How do I chose which card to play, when I can't see what I'm fighting?"

"This I don't like."

"Tell me about it," Lila agrees, frowning at the field "This field gives Mako's water based monsters a clear advantage. Like Mai and her mountains."

"The ocean conceals many things beneath its surface."

"Rrgh! As long as that thing stays submerged, I can't attack!"

"I promise he won't stay submerged for very long!" Yugi looks down at his cards, frowning as he tries to think of the best move to make _I have no idea what that thing is down there. So I better prepare for the worst, with as strong a defence as possible._

"Something's fishy! How can he fight what he can't see?"

"Beats me," Tea shrugs, looking at the field with concern.

"This is totally bogus!" Lila sighs, making them look over to her as she shakes her head and explains "Think about it, the fields imitate the area around them, that means this one is matching the sea so of course the water monsters can hide underneath it. Think about it, can you see what's in the water around us?" Tristan shakes his head "Exactly. It sucks but with all the new rules in this tournament, it actually makes sense." Make hears this and laughs "It seems that my ocean basted strategy has taken you and your friends by surprise Yugi!"

_Maybe so, but I can still raise a strong defence _"I call upon the Horn Imp!" The monster is human sized and shaped with pointy ears, a bald head and a single horn protruding from it. However it isn't around long as Mako commands his monster to attack. The monster stays submerged but it's large tentacles reach up to ensnare the imp, showing it is some kind of squid of octopus monster. Yugi tries to order a counter attack but it's too late, a single tentacle wraps around the imp's mid section and squeezes until Yugi's monster shatters, taking a small chunk of Yugi's life points with it. The tentacles wave around in victory before the slink back under the surface.

"Well, now I know that I'm up against."

"Yes the might ocean commands respect, as do the creatures that inhabit it!"

_Maybe I can prepare an attack that will destroy his creatures, even though I can't see them _"Feral Imp!" This imp is far more animal like, green furred with large bat like wings and huge ears. It also looks very different from the card since it's art work makes it look cute but the hologram looks more aggressive and rabid _My Feral Imp should dispense with Mako's monsters, no matter how deep they're hidden in the sea._

"I'm familiar with your monster, and it's electrical attack. So for my next card I play, my Giant Jellyfish!" Once again the monster is hidden under the water "Behold!" There is a strange, musical squeal kind of sound that emits after the monster is summoned.

"I don't like the sound of that!"

"That is the battle cry of my creature!"

"It'll be crying all right, once I combine my Feral Imp with the magical Horn of the Unicorn!" the small horn on the green imp's head lengthens and sharpens, coursing with electricity that sparks over the furry creature's entire body. It roars loudly, the increase of power shown by an increase of it's aggression.

"All right!" Joey cheers making Tea look respond with confusion "Yugi can't see Mako's monsters, but he know's they're all underwater and water conducts electricity!"

"Oh... so they're vulnerable to the Feral Imp's electrical attack," Tea gasps "Whoa, that's is so smart!"

"Magic lightning attack!" Yugi calls causing the imp to charge up the lightning in it's horn before blasting it into the water A huge spinning column of water emerges from the surface where the bolt struck "It's a fish fry!" Despite Joey's cheers, Mako simply smirks, clearly knowing something the rest of them don't.

"But wait," Yugi's gaze goes to Mako's life point counter on the podium's screen "What is this? Nothing's happening, Mako still has all his life points!" Mako laughs boisterously "Your strategy has failed Yugi!" The jellyfish from earlier rises out of the water and hovers above it "How?"

"As a sea duellist, I am well aware that water conducts electricity, so I played my Giant Jellyfish! It has the magical ability to absorb all electrical attacks, protecting all of my ocean creatures!" the monster sinks back into the depths "And now it's time for my counter attack! Fiend Kraken, crush his Feral Imp!" Once again, tentacles shoot from the water and wrap around the imp "Crush him now!" The limbs tighten and shatter the imp.

"Did you enjoy my kraken's embrace?" Mako laughs wildly, clearly enjoying this a little bit too much.

_I've never duelled against creatures like these before! It feels as if I'm battling Mako's sea monsters, and the awesome power of the ocean itself!_

"Do any of your cards have the power to stand against my ocean pets?"

"I have the power of Silver Fang," a pale furred wolf howls as it appears on the field "And I combine him with the magic of the Full Moon to double his ferocity!" A beautiful moon appears on the field and the wolf howls once more in response to the moon. It then snarls threateningly at Mako's side of the field, despite not being able to see any of the sea monsters. However it does nothing to unsettle Mako as he just laughs "Ferocious indeed! But the moon also controls the tides, causing them to rise. Allowing me to unleash my next creature! Arise, mighty Kairyu-Shin!"

"What's this?!" Yugi says in shock as the appearance of Mako's large bright blue sea serpent causes huge waves to appear in the holographic waters on Mako's field "Behold the colossal Kairyu-Shin, a creature so enormous that when he rises from the ocean depths, he creates his own tidal wave!"

"What a beast!"

"Your wolf is brave Yugi, but he will not stand before my Kairyu-Shin's tidal attack!" the waves increase in force and crash into Yugi's field, sweeping the wolf up in the waters and washing it away until it shatters in pixels.

"No! Silver Fang!"

"Poor puppy," Lila says, her eyes turning sad as she watches the wolf disappear from the field. The waves continue to wash around Yugi's field and Mako watches with glee, a little too much glee for everyone watching to be entirely comfortable.

"Gone. But my Kairyu-Shin's tidal attack did more then simply wash your wolf cub away."

"What?"

"It considerably altered out playing field," Mako says guesting to the field before them. Yugi follows his hand in confusion and his eyes widen in shock "Ah! My land!" The serpent's attack has not only destroyed Yugi's monster, but it has also washed away almost all of Yugi's playing field, leaving only a single monster zone worth of land left, meaning if Yugi wants to summon any monsters, they're going to have to be able to breath under water if he wants to use them "Kairyu-Shin's attack has nearly washed away my entire land based playing field!"

"You should consider yourself lucky Yugi. In my previous duels, when Kairyu-Shin attack, absolutely nothing is left standing in its wake. I think it was quite considerate of my pet to leave you a little patch of dirt to stand on! Don't you?" Yugi, obviously isn't consoled by Mako's mocking works "Or does it make you uneasy to be surrounded on all sides by the sea? All men give pause before the savage power of the mighty ocean. Even the greatest of fishermen." The group stare, startled as it becomes clear that Mako is speaking from personal experience.

"You mean your father..." Mako leans on the duel console, putting down his card for a moment as he looks down, his eyes wet and shimmering slightly with unshed tears "My father was a great fisherman. He taught me my love of the sea. But... one day the sea... took him... I loved going out on the boat with my father. Just the two of us and the big, beautiful ocean! Never suspecting that the sea would turn on us. Suddenly the calm, friendly sea turned into a raging maelstrom! It pitched out boat as if it were a toy," the anguish is clear on his face as he tells them all his story "When the storm finally died out, our little boat had washed ashore. My father was right, I had been perfectly safe but because he had stopped to tie me down, he had no time to secure himself to the mast! I thought I had lost him forever, but then I noticed our lifeboat was missing!" he clenches his fist and his voice changes from distraught to determined "I know my father is alive! So I will win this contest, buy a ship and search the seven seas until I find him! That is why I duel Yugi, that is why I must win and you must lose!"

"I understand Mako, believe me, but I still can't let you win." he smiles, his grin showing his delight at the challenge Yugi presents him.

"Oh wow," Tea says softly.

"Mako duels for his dad like Yugi duels for his grandpa."

"And you for you sister," Lila reminds, nudging him with her hip, making him look at her and smile, nodding. Yeah that too.

"Whoa, this is too intense!"

_With so little land left to me, I've really gotta make this next play count. I need something that will help my turn this tide, _he looks down at his hand and sees something _Something like this card _"Giant Soldier of Stone!" a large stone carving man appears, crouched down, hunkering on the little bit of land left "You may've shrunk my battlefield down to an island Mako, but my stone soldier still gets a field power bonus!" The stone monster's defence raises all the way to twenty six hundred, an impressive defence.

"Your massive monster can barely fit on that little rock, let alone do battle with my undersea attack force! And he is surrounded on all sides by the ocean, making him easy prey for Great White Terror!" a shark monster is summoned, jumping up from the water and diving back down like a dolphin showing off "This savage shark will lead my other sea creatures in an all out ocean onslaught!"

"Man, Yugi's guy is outnumbered three to one!" dark shapes with glowing eyes show Mako's monsters as they head straight for Yugi's soldier "His stone soldier's about to become fish food!"

"This it is Yugi. It's over but you played honourably."

"You have been a fair and noble opponent too Mako, but I also duel with the fate of a loved one at stake." Mako blinks in confusion as he looks over to Yugi, wondering what his opponent is about to do "And I can't afford to lose. I switch my stone soldier to attack mode!" there is a small rumble and the sound of stones rubbing against one another as the soldier stands from his kneeling position. Mako watches, shocked at Yugi's thought.

"Attack mode? But why? He cannot attack my sea monsters while they're underwater!"

"But his target isn't your sea monsters. I'm having him attack a card I put on the field myself," as his soldier slowly draws his sword, tiny pebbles breaking off the blade as it comes from the scabbard, Yugi points upwards "The moon." Mako does an overly dramatic double-take as he realises what Yugi's plan will lead too "No!"

"Now stone soldier! Destroy the moon!" the monster takes aim and reaches up, his blade stabbing into the holographic moon, causing it to explode in a bright flash of light. Mako flinches, hiding his face from the shrapnel and when he looks back at the field, he sees some moon gravel falling into the water as it rushes out, away from the field "What's happening? The tide! It's going out! But how?"

"As you yourself said before Mako, it is the moon that controls the oceans tides, its ebb and its flow. So I ordered my stone soldier to obliterate the moon, causing the ocean's tides to reverse and recede," all of Mako's fish monster lay helplessly on the now solid ground, twitching as they gasp helplessly for air they can't breath "My stone soldier has beached all your sea monsters, you have no ocean left!

"No, my precious fish!"

"And now I'll deliver the final blow. I combine my Curse of Dragon with the magic of the Burning Land card, to wipe out your remaining life points. Burning land attack!" The yellow skeletal dragon appears with a shriek and lets out a stream of molten flames, incinerating the land and frying the sea creatures "And that takes your life points down to zero." Tea and Lila hop up and down in excitement while Tristan and Joey flex their muscles stupidly as they all cheer for their friend.

"Destroying your own moon card was a brilliant and unexpected move Yugi," Mako remarks, his entire demeanour more humble now before he regains his grin and boisterous voice "What a grand duel! I salute you my friend!"

"This victory was not easily won Mako. You're a great duellist yourself," Mako flicks something off his nose and wink with a grin and a short laugh.

* * *

The duellist have rejoined the group of watchers as Mako hands over the two stars Yugi has won from him "I am down to one star chip, but I will start over again!"

"And I bet you'll do fine."

"You'd win that wager," he lets out another short laugh as the two boys clasp hands.

"You know, I can't help but like that Mako," Tea remarks with a smile as they watch the two new friends and rivals "He's such a great guy and all. I hope he finds his father someday." The rest of the group voices their agreement. The moment is broken when there is a loud grumble from Mako's stomach, making him burst out laughing "My friend, duelling you is hungry work!" He takes off towards the cliff and yells "Time for Mako to fish again! Farewell!" As he jumps into the water with his harpoon that Lila had gingerly handed over to him. He's still laughing as he swims away.

"Wish he'd bring us some fish..." Tristan remarks wistfully making the rest of them roll their eyes as Yugi jokes "We'd have to duel him again." There is a round of laughter.

"I'm not doing it," Lila tells the other Yugi who looks at her with a raised eyebrow "I don't have my Cure Mermaid, Enchanting Mermaid or Ice Water in my deck anymore. I took them out when I put my Amazoness monsters in my deck. Will make a water field a nightmare to function." He chuckles, the two walking close to each other as they leave the campsite.

"Forget about it! but guys, I am seriously getting hungry and I'm not eating any of Lila's stupid rabbit bars," speaking of which, Lila hands one over to the other Yugi who tears into it, smiling his thanks. As he chews, he glances back over his shoulder to get one last look at the ocean beyond the edge of the cliff.

"Not a problem! We've still got my Great Outdoor Survival Guide!"

"No way," Tea pushes Tristan to the side as she laughs.

"Go ahead Tristan, eat all the pages you like!" Joey jokes, making the rest of the group laugh loudly as they carry one back to the main part of the island.


	8. 08 Everything's Relative

**_This one felt really short to write since it was like half flashback and the scenes with Kaiba, which are cut out, but it still came out a decent length. I'm actually impressed._**

**_Enjoy_**

* * *

Chapter Eight - Everything's Relative

"Wow Yugi! I can't believe you already won five star chips!" Tea says with a smile as she looks over at Yugi's duel glove.

"Yeah, pretty soon you'll have the ten you need to get into Pegasus' castle, and rescue your grandpa!"

"I wish I had more star chips," Joey pouts, looking down at his own glove as Yugi comes up behind him saying "Don't worry about it Joey, you're doing fine. You'll be able to help your sister out soon."

"I sure hope," he is quiet for a moment, thinking about his sisters face on the video she sent him "Serenity's really countin' on me. An' I won't let her down." Before anything else can be said, there is a loud, shrill cry for help that catches the group's attention.

"What's that?" Tristan asks, like anyone in the group can answer him. Still, they follow the cries further down the path in the trees. One of those announcer people, the one with hair like Tristan's, holding a young boy in a bright pink shirt with a green body warmer, the boy is the one calling for help "Let go of my, somebody help me!" He struggles against the goon's choke hold but he is unable to loosen the large man's hold on him.

"Hold on kid, We're coming!" Tristan calls as he runs for the guard, fist clenched and ready "Let that kid go!" He wildly throws the punch "I'm on the big guy!" The man throws the kid to the side. While Tristan's punch misses, he is able to grab the other guy's arm and flip him over "Not too shabby." Unfortunately Tristan's celebration is a little too late as the suited man is easily able to correct himself and kick off the ground to deliver a kick in in retaliation which hits it's mark. It's knocks Tristan to the ground and leaves the boy winded "Ugh... I'm off the big guy." The boy tries to scamper away but is grabbed by the arm before he can flee.

"Put me down!"

"Quit squirming, ya little brat!"

"You heard him needle head! Put the kid down!" Joey yells as the rest of the group finally manage to catch up, Yugi and the girls struggling to catch their breath, the shorter boy adding "What do you think you're doing?"

"This is none of your business," the guard snaps "This duellist lost his star chips. And the rules say he's to be kicked off the island!" He manhandles the kid around to make him easier to move around, holding one arm out so people can see his empty glove.

"But I didn't lose my chips in a duel, they were stolen from me! My cards too!" he tries to defend himself, wiggling again but again, it's no good. The guard scoffs "I don't care what lame excuse you have kid, you need star chips to duel and you haven't got any, so you're shippin' outta here! Those're the rules, those are my orders from Pegasus himself." With that, he turns and walks away. Tristan gets to his feet, rubbing the back off his head, that drop is certainly going to leave a lump "Ugh, that big creep! I say we follow him!" There is a round of agreement and the teenagers hurry off after the man.

They end up at the docks. There is a boat of dejected looking kids and young teenagers, one of them a familiar face, it's Weevil. The boat is guarded by a couple of suit wearing goons and as the pointy haired one walks up, one of them jokes "Hey Kemo, what'd ya catch?"

"Just another loser. Haha!" He tosses the boy into the boat, causing him to bump into Weevil, then the boy's bag is thrown into lap. Weevil rudely shoves the boy to the other side of bench, spitting out "Hey, buzz off! They may be shipping me out, but I'm still Weevil Underwood, bug duellist extraordinaire!" The boy shuffles off so he's closer to the edge of the boat, looking down at his lap sadly "But I didn't even get a chance to duel..."

"Hey!" Yugi shouts, making the kids on the boat turn to look over and watch as the group runs over to the the boat "Hey you! What did the guy who stole your star chips look like?"

"Well, I couldn't see his face, it was covered with a bandanna. But he was a little guy and he challenged me in the meadow."

"He challenged you to a Duel Monsters game?"

"Yeah. But as soon as I put my star chips and Duel Monsters deck down, he snatched 'em and ran off with them!"

"And you guys aren't investigating the claim of a thief on the island? What kind of security are you guys?" Lila growls out at the guards watching the boat, making one of them blink behind his sunglasses and step back a little from the angry small girl. He sputters out a bit like he's trying to come up with an excuse but isn't able to say anything.

"You shouldn't be shipped off the island for that! We'll get your star chips back." Kemo pushes his way between the group and the boat, glaring down at the teenagers, folding his arms across his wide chest "This boat leaves in exactly thirty minutes. Anyone without a star chip ships out."

"Then we'll get his chips back by that time," Tea snaps back, joining Lila in the glaring and Tristan punches his palm as he adds on "We won't let you bully him out of the game!"

"Nope! We'll catch that little thief and bring him to justice! Believe me kid, you can count on us to track him down and get those star chips back!" the boy blinks and looks up at the group in confusion "But who are you guys?"

"We're the guys that're gunna save your chips! Don't worry, ya got the brilliant mind a' Joey Wheeler on the case, and I always get my man," at Joey's boasting, the resting of the group groans, there he goes again "Even if he's just a kid. Onward troops!"

* * *

"So what's your brilliant mind telling you now Sherlock?" Tristan taunts as the group are wandering around on their way to the duel arena the pink shirt wearing kid mentioned. The blonde boy shrugs "Beats me. Right now, the only thing my brilliant mind is doing is giving me a brilliant headache!"

"Well maybe we should stake out the scene of the crime. It's over there!" Yugi suggests, pointing out the arena with a large 146 painted on the side. Upon seeing it, both Yugi and Lila run over first, the rest of their friends coming up behind them. The sit on the grass nearby as Joey asks "Think the thief'll come back?"

"He just might and we can put our heads together and plan in the meantime," just as Yugi says that, a rustling in the bushes nearby as the rest manage to get to the three duellists catches Lila's attention, making her frown over at it and nudge Yugi's side and look over to the bushes, but they can't really see anything so they chalk it up to a squirrel or something.

"Yeah, but don't forget one of those heads is Joey's. That's sorta like subtracting one brain!" Tristan teases, making Joey laugh mockingly. All of a sudden a kid with a bandanna around his face jumps out from the bushes near the ones that caught Lila's interest, shouting "Ah-ha! I've found you at last Yugi!" The group is instantly on their feet, except Lila, who stays sitting with her head tilted to one side. The boy who had his chips stolen mentioned it being a little guy but this boy is shorter then Yugi. He really is a little kid.

"That must be the kid we were looking for!"

"I can handle him!" Tristan tries to boast confidently, but it's undercut by Tea responding with "I hope so, you're twice his size," making the pointy hair boy blush and look away slightly sheepishly.

"Just try my, ya big dork!" well he's certainly not lacking in confidence, Lila notes as she slowly stands up, still looking the boy over curiously. This kid's voice is pretty familiar but she really can't figure out where she's heard it before. And how does he even know Yugi?

"Back off kid!"

"And hand over the star chips you swiped from that other duellist!"

"Hold on," Yugi says, holding a hand up to the taller boys "I think I know what this kid's after," he steps forward "He wants to duel." The boys look in confusion and frown as Yugi turns to the kid "That's what you want right? You wanna duel me?"

"You better believe it!" the boy has his fists clenched as he glares at the boy, the anger and hate clear in his eyes. In no time the two are climbing onto the duel podiums. The group has gathered around to watch "I don't get it," Joey remarks, folding his hands across his chest as he frowns up at the arena "Why is Yugi going to the trouble a' dueling this guy when we can just take those star chips away from 'im?"

"Y'know sometimes I don't think even Yugi knows why he does half the stuff he does."

"Huh. Yeah, it's kinda weird. D'ya think it has something to do with his Millennium Puzzle?" just as Joey says that, the eye on the puzzle lights up and once again the other Yugi takes over, regarding the boy curiously, he asks "Now, how many star chips will you wager?"

"To wipe you out? Five!"

"Then five it is," he nods, removing them from the glove while the boy digs into his pocket and throws them over the podium "But only because I think I know why you're doing this." The glowing eye faintly appears on his forehead, but no one seems to really notice it, certainly not the kid who growls out "I don't care what you think Yugi, cause you're gonna lose!"

"Lila," the green eyed girl looks over to Tea as she steps closer to her "What does Yugi see that we don't? It's like he's looking into the other player's soul." The other girl shrugs, not really knowing anything that could help. Tea's right, when this Yugi is in control, he has a far greater level of insight then he should be able too. Like Joey said, it probably has something to do with the puzzle and whatever power it has locked inside it.

"Hey soul scholl," Joey blurts out boisterously "I can see from here that that kid's gonna get his butt kicked!"

"Maybe, but Yugi should hurry if he plans to get those star chips back to the boat in time," Tristan reminds the group and Lila nods saying "Yeah, we really don't have time for this duel to take too long. Not if we want to help that boy."

"Don't worry you two. He'll win the chips and we'll be back at the dock with time to spare," Lila sighs at Tea, wishing she could share the girl's optimism but she isn't sure. Another way these tournaments are different, the holograms actually make the duels take longer then if they were playing with cards on a plain table.

_This is it Yugi. Now you're gonna pay for what you did to my big brother, _the masked boy thinks venomously, thinking back on what happened after Yugi's duel with Kaiba _You broke up my family Yugi, and now I'm gonna break you up _"My first card is the Man-Eating Plant!" The monster is pretty much what the names makes you think, it's a large, pink petal covered Venus fly trap with oversized pointed teeth and long, thorn covered vines. Despite it's appearance though, it's actually a pretty weak monster, only having eight hundred attack.

"Now it's my turn! I'll counter you attack, with the Winged Dragon, Guardian Of The Fortress!"

"Ha! Bad choice Yugi! My Man-Eating Plant will eat your dragon alive!" despite his boasts, it's clear that the boy is actually pretty new to the game, since he doesn't seem to be paying attention to the difference in attack strength between the two monsters "So now you're finally gonna pay for what you did Yugi, and you're stupid dragon's gonna be plant food! Man-Eating Plant, attack!"

"Fireball attack!" Yugi counters and before the plant can even do anything, the dragon opens it's mouth and spits out an orb of flames rather big for the dragon's modest size. The boy flinches back from the flames and looks at the field in shock when he realises it was his monster that was destroyed "Huh? My monster lost?"

"You can't win a duel with cards that don't rightfully belong to you. How could your heart ever live in cards that belong to someone else?"

"Be quiet! I don't believe in that 'Heart of the Cards' stuff you keep preaching about. Cards have nothing to do with heart, it's all about power!" the boy's words make Lila's eyes widen. That's where she remembers his voice from. And it seem Yugi has reached the same conclusion.

"Yes, I can see it now," he says quietly to himself, his eyes closed, before he opens them and speaks up so his opponent can hear him clearly "I sensed a connection to Kaiba! You're his brother, you're Mokuba!"

"How did you know?" the boy removes his bandanna to reveal his face. It is the boy that was there at the arena when Yugi faced off against Kaiba. He pulls off his hat and shakes out his hair, the long black locks falling down in back in a messy mop "That's right, Seto Kaiba is my brother and he's the best duellist that there ever was," he throws the hat to the side in a slightly overly dramatic way "But now, thanks to Yugi, he's gone and Pegasus is trying to take over KaibaCorp!"

"Why would Pegasus want your brother's company?" Lila asks confused, it can't be money, Pegasus is one of the richest men on the planet. Mokuba ignores Lila and carries on saying "I dunno what you did to my big brother when you duelled Yugi, but ever since that defeat, he hasn't been the same," he is quiet for a minute and groans, upset at his thoughts "It's all your fault," he yells "Seto deserted me 'cause of you!"

"You don't understand. Mokuba, your brother hasn't deserted you, he's searching for himself."

"Liar! Tell it to my monster!" he plays a pinkish purple looking bipedal crocodile looking creature "Go, Krokodilus!" Once gain, before the monster launches its attack, Yugi's dragon blasts it, destroying them. As it does, Yugi tries to reason with the angry boy "Battling me won't bring your brother back. And we want to stop Pegasus as much as you do! He's taken my grandfather prisoner."

"That right, Pegasus is the bad guy here! Can't ya see that, ya crazy little kid?" Lila face palm, Joey means well be he doesn't go about it the right way and rarely says the correct thing when trying to defuse a situation, instead he has a tendency to rile people up even more, such as right now as the boy spits back out at him "You're wrong! I have to protect my brother's company and Yugi's the one Pegasus has to beat in order to take it over!"

"Why?" Lila asks, genuinely confused. Why would beating a random kid let the game designer take over KaibaCorp? It doesn't make any sense.

"Wait I get it," Lila looks over to the other girl, waiting for the answer to her question, but instead it's simply a comment in response to Mokuba's "Mokuba is trying to save his brother's company by defeating Yugi in a duel so Pegasus doesn't get to face Yugi at all!"

"Whaddaya mean?" Tristan asks, like Lila, pretty unsure about how this situation is suppose to make any sense.

"Whaddaya mean what do I mean?" Joey asks, turning to look at Tristan in annoyance "I wasn't talking to you!" The blond hits his head with his fist and turns to the short haired brunette, asking in a calmer voice "Sorry, what did you mean Tea?" The girl sighs over the boys' antics "If Mokuba can keep Pegasus from beating Yugi, he won't be able to take over Kaiba's company." Lila is tempted to ask why again, seriously, why, but she refrains, none of the people here are likely to have a sensible answer so it would just be a waste of breath.

"Ah, that must be it," Yugi nods in understanding then turns back to look over at Mokuba but the boy is missing "Hey, where'd he go?" Coming from out of nowhere, or more like, from behind the duel arena where the group aren't standing, Mokuba hops up behind Yugi and reaches around him, using his small size to an advantage, to grab at the star chips, though he only manages to get two of them "If I can't beat you, I'll have you disqualified!"

"My star chips!" Mokuba jumps down and tries to make a run for it, with the rest of the group moving to following after him, but they all freeze when Yugi call out "Mokuba listen to me! You'll never save Kaiba Corporation that way!" The boy looks over his shoulder uneasily "Your big brother is just confused. After I defeated Kaiba in our duel, I opened his mind. I removed from him all the dark influences that clouded his thoughts and actions. Free from that evil essence, Kaiba is struggling. Now your brother realises that his way wasn't the right way, and he's searching his heart for answers. And you know in your heart what you're doing isn't the right way either."

Mokuba looks away, his shoulders shaking, like he's trying convince him that Yugi is wrong and is the bad guy he thought but he just can't make himself carry on running. Lila slowly walks over to him and places a hand on his shoulder, making him look up at her with wide eyes. She smiles and kneels down to the boy's height, holding her hand out. With a sigh, he reaches over and hands over the chips he took from Yugi, aksing "But then... what can I do?"

"You can start by trusting us," Lila offers, using the same tone she does when her little brother is angry or upset "Trust Yugi. I promise, we're all fighting to bring Pegasus down. We'll help protect your brother and your company, but we need you to help us. Can you?" Mokuba nods "You need to return the cards and chips you took from that boy, okay?"

"You're right," he says softly then looks up to Yugi as he's coming down from the podium "Then we'll take on Pegasus together!"

"We've only got three minutes left 'til the boat leaves!" Tea calls, looking at her watch.

"Let's get going Mokuba!"

"Let's do this!" he holds onto the hand Lila isn't holding Yugi's chips in as they all run off in full sprint to the docks.

* * *

Gasping for breath, they all come to the pier but just as they get to the edge, Yugi spots the row boat of kids is already sailing away, Mokuba looks with large eyes "The boat! It's already left!"

"And there's the lowsy lowlife that shipped 'em out!" Joey points out Kemo, who is watching the boat leave, not even bothering to turn around as the group runs up to him as he says "You're too late, those losers are on their way back home."

"Hey that's not fair, it hasn't been a half hour yet!"

"Tough luck, Pegasus sets the schedule here!"

"That's it, I'm gonna give you a flat top!" not listening to Joey's silly sounded threat, Mokuba lets do of Lila's hand and walks over to Kemo, holding out the stolen chips "You've gotta call the boat back, I've gotta return that kid's star chips to him!" Kemo scoffs and slaps the long haired boy's hand aside, knocking all of the star chips into the water _Good thing Lila took Yugi's already _he thinks as he watches the golden stars hit the ocean surface and start to sink.

"What gives?" Joey snaps. Lila puts a hand on his arm, pulling him back to try and get him to calm down as Mokuba stares at the water horrified.

"Ha! You losers should keep a tighter grip on your valuables, don'tcha think? Then accidents like this wouldn't happen! Now," with the rest of the group distracted, Kemo grabs Mokuba in a choke hold, shocking everyone and it changing to Joey holding Lila back from getting into a fight she can't win "Let's go, you back to the cage! This little ingrate is a special guest of Mr Maximillion Pegasus and he's been invited to attend a special dinner in his honour back at the castle. Right Mokuba?" The boy stuggles and lets out a gasped plea for help "Yugi, Lila-"

"Hold on!" Yugi snaps, drawing Kemo's attention "I still have my five star chips," he points to the half filled glove "I challenge you to a duel and if I win, Mokuba comes with us!"

"I don't know why you'd risk your chips for this punk, but if that's how you wanna waste your star chips then meet me back at arena one forty six in exactly four hours, you'll have your duel."

* * *

At the necessary time, the group make their way to the arena from before, Lila still grumbling angrily and kicking at the ground "Well we're here. Where's antenna head?" Joey remarks, looking around the clearing.

"Yugi, Lila! Over here!" Mokuba calls and the group spot Kemo standing next to the arena, still holding onto Mokuba "Get him off me!"

"Put him down now!" Lila growls, taking a step forward, unfortunately, much like the regular Yugi, her lack of physical stature makes it hard for her to be intimidating, no matter how angry she is.

"I'll consider it, if Yugi wins the duel."

"Oh I'll beat you all right..."

"I never said I would duel," Kemo smirks and points up at the red podium "There is your opponent!" Yugi and the others look up and there is a chorus of gasps. The person on the podium looks just like Kaiba, except for the strange, unnatural shadowing around his blank navy eyes "He's an old friend whose dying to see you again! He met an unfortunate end earlier today, but he's come back just to duel you."

"What are you says?" Mokuba lets out a panicked cry.

"Kaiba..."

"Yes Yugi," the ghost Kaiba has a sinister, distorted overly to his monotone voice "It's me Kaiba. And this time you don't stand a ghost of a chance!" He then cackles menacingly.


	9. 09 Duel Ghoul & Give Up Ghost

_**Long chapter for these two episodes, hope you all don't mind the changes I made.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

* * *

Nine - Duel With A Ghoul & Give Up The Ghost

"Yugi, you don't stand a ghost of a chance beating Kaiba, because this time he is a ghost!"

"A ghost?"

"Stop it Kemo!" Mokuba cries, unwilling to believe what he is being told, his brother can't be dead. He can't!

"It's a fact, two witnesses saw him fall to his doom," there is a chorus of horrified gasps from Yugi and the others, sans Lila who has all her focus on the crying Mokuba, he big sister instincts starting to kick in, he may not be her younger brother but that doesn't matter right now "Liar! Take back what you said!"

"Get use to it, all that's left of Kaiba are your memories. Plus a very cranky ghost just looking for revenge!"

"It's not him," Lila snaps, glaring heatedly at Kemo, making Yugi nod in agreement as he steps forward to put a hand on her shoulder, but she shakes him off.

"We'll he's seen better days. It's time to duel, with the ghoul!"

"It can't be! That guy's nothing but a fake, a trick by Pegasus! Don't worry Mokuba, I'll win your freedom-"

"No!" Lila snaps, making Yugi do a double take as he looks at the angry girl who is standing with her clenched fists shaking at her side "I'm duelling! If Kemo can substitute in this challenge then so can Yugi!" Kemo looks like he's going to argue but Lila carries on talking over him "If it's really Kaiba, he should beat me no problem, in that case, he can duel Yugi afterwards."

* * *

Up in his castle, Pegasus is sat at his banquet table, a wine glass in his hand with one of his minions standing at his shoulder. He watches the angry friend of Yugi and chuckles to himself "This is extremely entertaining! I just love reality TV."

"But sir, doesn't Yugi need to be defeated. What use is there to having this girl duel? And just who is she duelling?" the grey haired minion asks, unable to hold in his curiosity.

"Come now Croquet, can't you just enjoy it. Besides, I'm eager to see what Miss Donovan can do. And it's Kaiba, what's left of him. The poor boy had shown so much promise."

"But no he's... it's... how did you do that?"

"I really can't take all the credit. I had help from Yugi. And how to return the favour. Even if he is only a spectator, I'm going to teach him a lesson about the real power of the Millennium Items!"

* * *

"You look like you've seen a ghost," the fake Kaiba taunts as the podiums rise, seeming to find amusement in Lila's hate filled glare as she places her deck on the podium, her body stiff as she tries to ignore his jokes, remaining silent. He doesn't seem to like that since it doesn't give him any openings for taunts and mocking. Lila stands with her arms crossed across her chest, waiting for him to get it all out of his system before finally saying "You done? Let's duel!"

"Fine with me. You're no Yugi, so you don't stand a chance at beating my cards."

"Just because you look like Kaiba, doesn't mean you can imitate his deck."

"You mean my deck," Lila's eyes narrow as she draws her first hand and she smiles to herself. It's got something that will act as a surprise to the people watching, except Yugi that is.

"Beat him Lila! He's nothing but a fake!" Mokuba cheers, the teenagers joining in.

"Yeah, that ghost doesn't even look like Kaiba!"

"That's right!" then Tea seems to realise that be agreeing with Joey, she's just admitted that Lila's opponent is an actual ghost "Wait, I mean it's not a ghost and it's not Kaiba!"

"Get 'im Lila!" Yugi however is silent, the impostor is staring right at him. The ghost is thinking directly at him, but Yugi is keeping his angry face still, not letting anyone aware that he can hear his taunting about him being Kaiba and how Lila has no chance of winning. Yugi doesn't want to admit it, but what Lila said it probably right, if this was the real Kaiba, Lila likely wouldn't win but she seems determined to prove that this isn't him. And he's not going to let her down.

"Kemo, once I've dealt with this annoyance and beaten Yugi, Pegasus can have Kaiba Corporation. All I want is revenge!" he then turns to Lila "Three stars says I win." Lila looks down at her glove. Even if she loses this, she isn't going to be kicked out of the tournament, but dropping from four to one would be tough. Still.

"That's fine. That means when I win I'll have seven," it'll put her even further ahead then Yugi and Joey, but that's to be expected since she started with two while they had one.

"Let's duel! Guess I'll go first," he looks down at his cards and chuckles a little to himself "And I'll start off with the Hitotsu-Me Giant!" Lila frowns, that's the opening move Kaiba made against Yugi. Still it's not going to have the same effect against her. Mokuba also sees the similarity in opening moves, luckily Joey is there to try and keep the kid's mind off it. Obviously this ghost is trying to confuse everyone but starting the exact same way. But is isn't going to work.

"Then I'll start with a monster that you should remember yourself," the ghost frowns "I chose my Dark Magician!" Her monster appears on the field, making Joey blink and make a noise of surprise.

"Wait! Lila's got a Dark Magician?" he turns to Yugi who just nods "But hang on. Hers looks different. How come hers has blonde hair? And blue skin?" Yugi glances over at Joey and gives him a small smile as he explains "Different artworks. My one is a slightly rarer print is all. Guess they took that into consideration when designing the holograms." While that explains that question, the group are still shocked to see Yugi's iconic card used by their friend.

"Next I set one card face down. Now Dark Magician, dark magic attack!" the blonde spell caster simply throws his palm forward and the giant's hologram inverses colours before it shatters and the ghost's life points drop all the way to seven hundred "Looks like this duel is going to be over quickly."

"Well, aren't you a strong one," the ghost just laughs, making everyone look on nervously. Taking that much damage your first turn is never something you just shake off.

"What's so funny?" Lila asks, her brows narrowing as she stares the fake Kaiba down, not impressed.

"I wonder what's going on in that little brain of yours right now? I bet I know," Lila rolls her eyes and goes back to her hand, figuring she may as well just tune out about half of the nonsense this guys spouts out trying to convince everyone he's the real Seto Kaiba "You've come to the conclusion that, no matter what, there's no way you can win, and you couldn't be more right. Even a simpleton like you knows that I must be Seto Kaiba, and once you accept that you fact. You may as well accept defeat!"

"I don't care what you have to say. I'm going to beat you just like Yugi beat Kaiba!" Lila snaps.

"Buy Yugi could barely beat me last time and you don't have his advantage."

"What advantage are you talking about?" surely this guy can't know the exact way Yugi one, no one was watching except her, Joey and Mokuba, and none of them would have spoken about it to anyone.

"Exodia. Yugi only beat me because he had Exodia, something I highly doubt you have in your deck so that means, you can only lose!"

* * *

Outside the Kaiba mansion, the real Seto Kaiba stands just out of sight, glaring as he looks over the guards posted around his house. Not his security so they must belong to Pegasus. He tightens his grip on his briefcase and waits until he has a chance to move. As soon as it comes, he darts past the guards and is quickly to climb the wall into his garden, clearly he has some experience at this. He easily locates the chain handle and pull open the large trapdoor to his secret lab. As he descends the stairs, the first room he's in just looks like a simply office, the walls lined with bookshelves, but Kaiba goes right for one against the back wall and pulls a thick green covered book from it's place, revealing an eye scanner, which instantly lights up before allowing the door to open.

He's quick to set up his computer, taking a seat in a large, high backed, plush desk chair, watching the oversized screen in front of him light up. He has on his microphone headset and waits for his computer to speak.

"Running identity verification protocol. Please state your name," the computer has a slightly annoying but obviously feminine sounding voice.

"Seto Kaiba," a red bar appears on the and fills up, showing the computer is matching his voice against the one it has on file. As soon as it does the full system is accessible, all of the screens now lighting up.

"I thought I'd seen it all, but having to break into your own house," the voice is now far less formal, teasing it's creator like you would a friend and when Kaiba simply says it's a long story, refusing to elaborate she responds with "Too long a story? Well maybe I'm not in such a talkative moon myself right now!" And proceeds to turn her screen off. Kaiba, use to the brattish, teenage girl attitude of his artificial intelligence simply replies in bored tone "I'd fine that hard to believe."

"Such a smart guy," she mocks "While you were off gallivanting, a hostile take over of Kaiba Corporation as begun."

"I know."

"At the same time Maximilian Pegasus kicked of his Duel Monsters championship at the Duellist Kingdom. If Yugi Muto," a small picture of the boy in question appears on the screen next to a large image of the island "can be defeated by Pegasus or a competitor that represents him, then the new Kaiba Corporation board has promised him control of the company!"

"He won't Yugi. Yugi is unbeatable, his deck has Exodia..." he goes silent and grimaces as he remembers Yugi beating him.

"Yeah well, sometime after you lost to Yugi, he lost Exodia!"

"No way!"

"When it rains it pours," the computer then pulls up a picture of Mokuba on the screen "Pegasus knows all about the corporation by laws that require a living Kaiba heir to make any change of control legal. Mokuba's his prisoner!" Kaiba's jaw drops and he imagines two suits wrangling his struggling brother with Pegasus looming over him and grits his teeth, fist clenching, wanting to hit something, preferably Pegasus "And with you out of the way Pegasus will exert all kids of pressure to make your brother do what he wants, one way or another. So now ya know, what're we gonna do?" Kaiba is quiet as he goes over his head and has to make a tough decsion that he doesn't want to.

"They'll keep my brother safe, as least until the takeover's complete. So I've gotta make sure that Pegasus doesn't defeat Yugi in a duel, no matter what. I'm not gonna give up Kaiba Corporation without a real fight, it's take over time, by me. We're going to hack right into Pegasus' computer mainframe. Next stop, the Duellist Kingdom."

* * *

"Are you here to talk or play? It's your move," Lila says boredly, annoying the ghost as he watches her lean against the side of the counter and cross her arms across her chest, waiting for him to do something.

"And it's gonna blow your mind! This next card is a blast from the past Lila, with the emphasis on blast!" he lifts the card up and shows it, causing Lila's body to lose it's bored slouch and tense up as she moves forward and her mouth slightly open in shock, no way.

"I attack with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" he slams his card down, showing the beautiful white dragon that roars loudly at Lila's magician. Her eyes are wide and while her lips move, no sound comes out as she tries to compute what to say.

"Only one deck has got that card!" Joey cries. Lila's eyes fall to Mokuba who is stunned with the appearance of the dragon. His brother's favourite monster, to that young man, the appearance of this monster is proof of what everyone has been saying about his brother's death "That means... what they say, could it be true?" Lila snaps out of her shock and shakes her head.

"Looks like the advantage is mine," the ghost laughs but Lila is more focused on her thoughts, _this is Kaiba's deck. But this can't be Kaiba, but if this isn't Kaiba then how do they have his deck? _"Don't worry, my feelings weren't hurt when you all called me a liar, now admit that you were wrong!" She doesn't "Not having a real body isn't so bad, you would never believe what I save in food bills alone," Now he's back to jokes, something that isn't exactly in Kaiba's character "But I still enjoy the finer things in life. Like revenge, and after I defeat you and get to destroy Yugi, I'm going to savour its sweet taste for a very long time!"

"Shut up! Please, someone make him go away!" Mokuba shouts, his shoulder shaking as he starts to cry "Make him go away!"

"Ha, almost breaks my heart, if I had one," Lila's head snaps from Mokuba and going to the ghost as she slightly smirks to herself, making the ghost pull back in confusion.

"Now I know you're not Kaiba," Mokuba stops and everyone looks at her, Yugi smirking as he nods in understanding, knowing exactly what she's talking about.

* * *

"We've easily broken through the Duellist Kingdom computer system," the map on the screen is overlaid with numerous rectangles, showing the locations of all the active duel arenas.

"Too easy," Kaiba smirks "When it comes to computer duels, Pegasus has met his match. Now, it should be a piece of cake to find in which Yugi is duelling," a loading bar appears on the screen, Kaiba leaning back to watch.

"I'm looking, I'm looking," the computer says but suddenly a no entry sign with a bright pink, overall wearing, cartoon rabbit appears on the screen "Access denied?" the computer seems shocked.

"What did you do wrong?" Kaiba snaps, shooting forward in his seat.

"Don't blame me, I finally found the security and it's all around Yugi's data!" Kaiba sits back, sighing. Looks like it's going to be harder then he thought "I shoulda known. Fine by me Pegasus. Go ahead and give it your best shot. There isn't a computer system anywhere on Earth that I can't break into. Here's the thing, every computer has a back door if you know where to look. And guess where we're gonna look?"

"Beats me," the computer says, if she had a body, there would be shrug of the shoulders as Kaiba leans forward and starts typing on the keyboard "It'll be quicker if I take over on manual for a while." As Kaiba starts to type away on the keyboard, a diagram appears on the screen, three boxes with a map of Duellist Kingdom, the orbiting satellite and the Industrial Illusions skyscraper. There is a blinking green line connecting each of the boxes "Data from all the duels is being beamed from the island to an orbiting Industrial Illusions satellite and back down to their mainframe. These transmissions are obviously highly encrypted. If we can somehow force the Industrial Illusions computer offline, I'm sure their backup systems won't have as much security.

"Are you saying we can make their computer crash? From here? But how?"

"A computer crash is exactly what I had in mind, the biggest computer crash ever. And I'm going to use Pegasus' own satellite to do it!"

"But I've already tried to hack into their systems."

"My idea's different. Once the security is down we should be able to freely access the data. Be ready with a search for the Dark Magician," a small window appears on one of the side screen, showing the image of Yugi's Dark Magician card.

"Gotcha. Dark Magician inquiry loaded and standing by."

"Good," Kaiba nods "If Yugi's duelling, he's sure to use that card."

"So spill it already. How the heck are we going to use the Industrial Illusions' own satellite to bring down their computer?"

"By bringing down the satellite itself, down all the way!" Kaiba declares matter of factly. The satellite's image blows up to fill the whole screen, then turns into a schematic blueprint at the computer says "Loading satellite schematics." On the screen, a vault door with the words keep out written across it appears, along with a red bar that loads, the locks and bolts opening "Breaching on board computer security. You are now the proud owner of an Industrial Illusions satellite."

"Great! Now plot a crash course for the computer mainframe."

"Uploading new coordinates now," the screen zooms in on the headquarters building "We are locked on target for the computer."

"Hmph! Virus software won't stop this Pegasus, you're on notice that the Kaiba Corporation's still mine!"

"Satellite impact in ten seconds..."

* * *

"I won't attack just yet. Why rush to victory when I can draw it out as long as possible instead?" he then quietly places a card face down. Lila frowns as she looks at the screen. _There's no way it's just that. He's got to planning something with that face down. May not be my style but I better play it safe._

"I switch my Dark Magician into defence mode. Next I summon Hyozanryu in defence also," Lila's dragon is pale blue much like the blue eyes with an orange under belly and orange horns, it is hunkered low with it's wings curled around itself.

"Smart playing Lila. Unfortunately, it wasn't smart enough, you played right into my hand," he flips his face down up "Defence Paralysis!" Lila mentally curses, dammit, that will severely limit her moves "Now all your monsters are forced into attack mode!"

"Fine, I'll end my turn with a second face down."

"Ha! It's time! Blue-Eyes White Dragon, use your White Lightning!" the glowing white light blasts towards Lila's own dragon. She glances at her field, considering using one of her face downs but as she mumbles a quick apology to her monster and lets the attack connect, dropping her life points all the way to eleven hundred, evening up the scores a little. She hates sacrificing her monsters, but those face downs will be better off saved until a tense moment.

* * *

On Kaiba's screen, the virtual door close as Kaiba mutters "No Dark Magician there. Next field," like in a video game, the computer pulls away and glides down a virtual hallway until it comes to a door right at the end. In a long suffering voice, the computer says "We've exhausted almost every possibility of locating Yugi Muto. Field one forty six is the final active duel."

"Then he's gotta be there! Search field one forty six!" the computer moves towards the door but then the image freezes "What's that?"

"Looks like I've crashed."

"Reboot," there is long moment while the computer has to restart "...back online."

"Enter field one forty six," the same things happens again.

"I'm frozen again! It's worse this time."

"Hang on," Kaiba says, typing away "Watch this," the window with the picture of Dark Magician gets a red cross through it "Gotcha. Just as I thought. So a virus. A good one. That means just one thing! Searching for Yugi's cards activates the virus. Yugi's inside, get ready to go in!"

"But the security door-"

"We've come this far and I'm not gonna blow it!" the image of three sticks of dynamite appears on the screen with a rapidly filling loading bar "Actually, yes I am." There is a load boom, causing smoke to fill the screen. When it clears where is the image of a castle sitting on and island on a large body of sparkling water "What's that?"

"It's a virtual fortress. Sensors indicate that all of the data from Yugi's duels is processed here," the screen zooms in on the thick iron door "You won't blow your way through this thing, it's the ultimate defence! And it's impossible to penetrate without the password!"

"Hmm... a password. If I know Pegasus, that egomaniac would never think that anyone would outsmart him and get even this far. We're going in!"

"The password," Kaiba smirks as he says "Pegasus!"

* * *

Lila looks over her hand as she draws. That Blue-Eyes isn't going to be easy to beat "You kids gotta admit, for a stiff this Kaiba's sure got game!"

"That's not my brother! There's just no way! Lila, you know that's not him, everyone thinks he's a bad guy but I know my brother and he's not mean like this! He's my best friend in the whole world! That thing's not him! Ya just gotta believe me!" Lila looks up from her hand and over to the boy, her eyes sad _I believe you sweetie. I do. But how to prove it? _"Since I can't play defence, I'm going to summon Dreamsprite and place a third face down on the field," the ghost looks at the unclothed blue skinned pixie standing with her long red air and arms covering her body and then to the three glowing spaces of Lila's face downs "Look like it's your turn, let's see if you can make the right play."

"Really? You're going to try and use your fairy to protect your life points by forcing me to attack your stronger monster? And those face downs? Are they suppose to scare me?"

"I don't know, Mokuba tell me," Lila smirks as she looks over at the young boy, who looks up with wide eyes "Would a few face downs and a protective monster effect scare your brother?" That brings a smile to the long haired boy's face, she's right, that wouldn't scare Kaiba, he'd instantly know the exact thing he should do.

* * *

The door of Pegasus' virtual fortress swings open and Kaiba's computer voices her surprise "You were right about the password. The virtual fortress is unlocked. We now have access to Yugi's data and it was just his turn."

"Pegasus thinks he can make up all the rules to this game. But he could never have imagined this brand new twist. I'm back!"

* * *

"It's a shame this duel's going to end so soon. White Lightning!" the blaze of light blasts forwards and Lila looks down at her facedown thinking _It's now or never Lila, make a move. _She flips one of her face down cards back up and the dragon's attack hits an invisible barrier "Sorry but my Negate Attack means my Dark Magician stays."

"Way to go Lila!" Joey cheers while the fake Kaiba glares at the girl.

"And while you have to try again, I'm going to use my other trap, Solemn Wishes," she flips her middle face down face up "So the longer it takes you to beat me, the harder it's going to be." The ghost growls angrily in annoyance as he ends his turn and as Lila draws, her life point counter raises to sixteen hundred but she doesn't play a card, simply passing it back to him. None of the monsters she has are strong enough to stand a chance against the Blue-Eyes and she isn't willing to risk the duel until she stands a chance.

"Blue-Eyes attack again!" Lila smirks and chuckles as the dragon blasts once again "Kunai With Chain!" The chains shoot out of the ground, binding the Blue-Eyes and forcing it into defence mode and another chain with a blade at the end wraps around her Dark Magician's arm to signify the attack boost it gives to the spell caster.

"While a Blue-Eyes certainly has an impressive attack, it's defence is low enough that my powered up Dark Magician can easily deal with it," Lila says as she draws, gaining yet another life point boost "Go Dark Magician! Put an end to that dragon!" It may not deal any life point damage, but at the moment she's more interested in getting rid of the dragon then wiping out life points. Her Dark Magician spins his staff until the end is pointed at the dragon and a blast of dark energy destroys it.

"Alright Lila!" Mokua cheers then winces when Kemo tightens his grip on the boy's shoulder. However everyone's joy is short lived as a second Blue-Eyes appears on the field and blasts the magician away making Lila swallow her eyes wide, she wasn't expecting him to bring out the second dragon that quickly. Her life point counter falls by a hundred. It may have only lowered her back to the default start of two thousand, but this new Blue-Eyes is going to make sure that doesn't last too long.

"And that puts an end to your Dark Magician. There are only three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards in the world and they're all in my deck. Yugi's grandpa had the fourth but I ripped it up. But how could I possibly know that if I'm not really Seto Kaiba? You know, I couldn't believe it when your friend beat all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons with Exodia but you don't have that edge, there's absolutely no way you can win. You move."

"Everybody heard about Yugi's duel with Seto!" Mokuba shouts "That's how this loser knows about it! That's not my brother Lila, I'm sure!" Lila glances over at the boy and nods, drawing and looking at her hand. _None of my monsters stand much of a chance on their own, but maybe I can combine with a magic card. Even if it doesn't have the strength to destroy the dragon, it could at least help minimise the damage._

* * *

"I'm now re-routing the data from field one forty six at the Duellist Kingdom. After that we'll be able to confirm if Yugi Muto is duelling there."

"I'm sure he is. Now show me what you've got."

"Here it comes, we're in. Now downloading the duel data," there is quiet at a loading bar quickly fills "Dammit. Wrong arena again. The duellist who played the Dark Magician is a girl call Lila Donovan." A small picture of Lila appears on screen and Kaiba recognises her as one of Yugi's friends "Looks like even if Yugi isn't actively duelling, searching for his monsters is enough to set off the virus. But even so, you could be interested to see just who this girl is facing." Kaiba frowns at the screen as it changes into a diagram of the duel, showing each player's field. His eyes fall on the test reading Lila Donovan vs Seto Kaiba.

"What? Is that your idea of a joke?"

"I never joke. Sensors indicate that the opponent opposite Lila Donovan is registered as Seto Kaiba, and he's using your deck!"

"Pegasus must've taken my deck..."

"Due to the trap card Solemn Wishes, Lila does have much higher life points then her opponent but her only monster is Dreamsprite, while the impostor has his second Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field. Lila defeated the first one using a combination of the Dark Magician and Kunai With Chain, which explains why this duel came up while we were looking for Yugi's Dark Magician and now it's her turn again."

"But there's no way this girl can beat my deck, Yugi only managed with Exodia. There can't be any cards in her deck that can beat the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, let alone two of them!"

"Well if you're going to do something, I hope you have a plan," Kaiba is quiet for just a moment before he decides to step in. It may not be Yugi but he knows that if one of his friends is duelling, Yugi isn't far and besides, there's no way he's going to let someone else win with his cards "Yes, but we've got to move fast. Even with that trap, Lila won't last long against that dragon. Unless we decrease it's power from here."

"Can we do that?"

"Oh yeah. Upload a Virus into that monster's holo computer. That dragon is about to get sick, real sick."

"Standing by. But shouldn't we wait to see Lila's next move?" an image of blue eyes appears on the small screen in front of Kaiba.

"We can't afford to risk this fake winning this duel. Upload!"

"Viral injection underway."

* * *

"This duel is over Lila, I'm sure we'll be hearing the fat lady sing right after your turn. I still have Defence Paralysis active so whatever monster you pick won't be able to defend itself," the ghost taunts as Lila looks over her hand, finally settling on the move she wants to make.

"I summon Amazoness Paladin," the female warrior appears on the field, her own presence activating her ability, boosting her attack to eighteen hundred "And I'm boosting her power with the Lightning Blade magic card, giving her an attack power of twenty five hundred!" The sword the paladin is holding changes to match the one on the equip card, the blade sparking with electrical energy. However that still isn't enough to stop that dragon, and she doesn't have any other magic cards she can use to power up her warrior further. And no trap cards she can use to protect her.

* * *

"I wish that girl had waited a few more seconds before moving! Isn't there anything you can do to get that computer virus uploaded faster?" the screen is showing the percentage counting up. The billionaire is all but holding his breath as he watches the number ticking up with clenched teeth.

"We're already halfway there. This is as fast as it goes. Virus implant now at sixty percent but it doesn't seem to be working. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon is still showing no signs of weakness."

"Something is wrong," Kaiba says, mild panic settling into his voice.

* * *

The ghost laughs mockingly "This is almost to easy."

"Lila hang on, you can still do this!" Tristan shouts and Joey joins in "Yeah don't forget, even after this, you're still going to have way more life points!"

"Is she?" the ghost laughs, playing a magic card that is very familiar to Lila "Well that won't last long since your trap is gone." The Mystical Space Typhoon destroys Lila's Solemn Wishes, well there goes that advantage "It's time, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack!" but there isn't an attack, the dragon stays in it's attack stance but the pixels begin to fizzle and thin beams of light start to burst free from under the dragon's scales. The dragon lets out a confused sounding roar "What are you waiting for? Attack!" Everyone looks at the dragon in shock. What is going on?

* * *

"The virus is taking effect! The Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack power is beginning to drop," the computer states and the screen shows the dragon's attack plummeting from three thousand to twenty nine hundred, but is doesn't soothe Kaiba's nerves "But it's still too strong! It has to get weaker, or it'll still beat Lila!"

* * *

Lila looks at the monster attack stat on her screen with a confused frown. The numbers and ticking down, fast "I don't believe it."

"That's going on? My Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" there is another fizzle of pixels and the dragon's wings actually start to melt as long it's a plastic toy that's been cooked in the oven. The light beams from under the scales start to burst out from all directions. Everyone is stunned as they watch the dragon self destruct, Mokuba going so far as to cheer loudly. He may not want to see his brother's favourite monster destroyed, but it's good to see something go Lila's way in this duel. Those watching don't see Kemo put his hand to his ear and make mention of the situation to his employer.

* * *

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack power is dropping rapidly. The virus implant is successfully disabling the monster completely," the computer says blandly as Kaiba stares at the screen watching his program do it's work.

"Alright, now let's get to work on dragon number three."

"Standing by-" suddenly the picture on Kaiba's screen turns to static, making the teenager look at it in shock "What's the matter?"

"We've been locked out by a remote terminal, looks like we've been hacked!" the computer says in surprise as the image of that same pink bunny rabbit from before appears on the screen, hopping around as it's greets the brunette, showing that Pegasus is aware of just what has happened and it continues to spread before it takes over all of his screens. Looks like there isn't anything more he can right now. Suddenly the screens return to normal and the computer says "Attack power is now holding at twenty seven hundred."

"But this should've worked!"

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon is launching it's attack."

"Dammit!" Kaiba slams his fist into the console, while this isn't the end, he's done all he can for now and there's still that last dragon that this girl is going to have to deal with. And he has no idea how she's going to manage that.

* * *

Even as the dragon is melting, the lightning swells in it's mouth, readying for it's attack "Now Blue-Eyes White Dragon, time to obliterate them!" Lila swallows as everyone else watches on, this is it, her paladin is in trouble and whatever lowered this dragon's attack, it didn't lower it enough, she's still going to take some damage, not a lot but it's not going to be replenished this anymore. Then she frowns. The dragon fizzles again, the blast erupts but... it doesn't make it to Lila's amazoness. It fades into a shower of sparkles that glitter prettily around the blond warrior. She's quiet as she stares, the dragon melting even further, the fizzles cutting out causing the dragon to phase in and out of place. Then finally it's body completely erupts in the light and it disappears as if it were never summoned.

"This can't be. Why? Why me?!" the ghost shouts and it makes Lila smirk as she responds "Because the real Kaiba is still alive. He stopped you!"

"Silence! I am Kaiba!"

"I'm sick of your lies!" Lila snaps sharply, her glaring seeming to make her green eyes glow like an angry cat's "You're not Kaiba and now everyone here knows it!" Little Mokuba cheers "My brother is alive!" Tea looks to the others in surprise "What's going on?"

"It's like Yugi said. Last time Yugi duelled my brother, he showed Seto the Heart of the Cards! This fake may have taken his deck but the real Seto is alive and well!" the trio are quiet as they take in the information while the faker Kaiba is humped over on the console, his shoulders shaking as he seems to be having some kind of breakdown.

"Impostor!" Yugi shouts, making everyone turn to look at the star haired teenager "The real Seto Kaiba destroyed that monster. I know because I sensed him calling out when it happened. Now enough of your lies! We know you're not Kaiba! It's time for you to show us who you really are!" The ghost clutches his head, his body shuddering all over as he lifts up and like a raving lunatic shouts "I told you, I am Kaiba! Or at least I'm part of him, the darkest part!" Suddenly his wold body starts to swell and bulge, bursting to reveal an ugly looking clown that makes everyone looking recoil in revulsion. He laughs, no longer attempting to mimic Kaiba's voice "I can see you don't recognise me Yugi. I wasn't lying when I told you I was Seto Kaiba, the evil part of him you sent to the Shadow Realm in out last duel. Now I''m back, thanks to Pegasus!"

"You're not part of my brother anymore!"

"Eeew, it's hideous," thank you Tea for stating the obvious, Lila shudders, trying to keep her focus on her cards. She does not like clowns.

"I always thought that this duel just might turn ugly, but I never thought that ugly!"

"Hey ugly!" Mokuba shouts "If I were you, I'd start worrying about what my big brother's gonna do to you when he finally catches up to you!" Due to the boy's shouting, he can't hear the radio in Kemo's ear as Pegasus tells him to make sure he doesn't lose Mokuba.

Taking a deep breath, Lila looks up and speaks to the horrifying clown for the first time since his appearance changed "I guess I need to know what to call you. I was thinking about monster, but that would be an insult to the cards," the clown creature huffs in annoyance "It's your move and you've got a whole deck to do through and only one Blue-Eyes White Dragon left." It draws a card and summons a growling purple lizard "Grappler in defence mode." _Looks like he's just going to be biding his time until he draws his last dragon. _Lila draws and smiles, that's useful.

"I set one card and I summon Amazoness Swords Woman in attack mode!" upon the summoning of one of her friends, Lila's paladin gains another hundred attack points. The monster Lila summons has wild red hair, a large one handed sword and is wearing a revealing blue outfit "Swords Woman destroy his Grappler!" The warrior runs forward and slices through the lizard.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow. Next up is Mystic Horseman in defence mode, and I'll lay one of my cards face down just like you!" Lila looks at the field display and tilts her head. That face down is annoying, it could be a simple magic card he wants to save for later, or a trap that could do some serious damage to her life points. She draws her card, Mirror Force, nice "I play a face down. My turn is over."

"Patience Lila, for it will soon all be over!" the clown looks over at Lila's field considering her cards _She has two cards face down and three monsters. I can't attack her Dreamsprite as she'll just use it's ability to redirect my attack, probably to her paladin and he isn't strong enough to deal with her Swords Woman. But if I draw the final Blue-Eyes I can destroy her paladin and any other monster she could summon, which means it won't be long until I drop her life points to zero._

"I find it hard to believe, but I'm liking the look on that guy's face even less then I did before!" Joey remarks as he looks at the clown, his face scrunched up.

"Wipe that smile off his face Lila"

"Loser! Make your move!" the clown chuckles "As you wish," he draws and his face turns gleeful "Prepare for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" He slaps the card onto the console and the dragon appears, roaring loudly. _Did he stack the deck? How's he drawing them so quickly?_

"Don't worry Lila! My brother will help out just like last time!"

"Dream on!" Mokuba looks up at Kemo on in confusion "Your luck's run out. Just see for yourself. Unlike the last Blue-Eyes, this one is at full power and your brother's in no position to do a thing about it! 'Cause we found where his hiding place is and now he's on the run."

"So that means Kaiba is alive?" Lila mentally face palms as Tristan, seriously, that's what he takes from this "Dimwit. It means don't expect another miracle, 'cause this duel's going to end!" Mokuba is trying to fight back his tears, how's Lila going to win now?

"Such a good dragon, wouldn't you say Lila? This duel will be ending very soon no go, white lightning attack!"

"I activate my Mirror Force trap!" she flips over her first face down and a reflective film appears in front of her paladin before shattering with the attack and firing back at the evil clown "Pretty good trick, but I'm ready with one of my own. I'll use Negate Attack!" The reflected attack vanishes "Negate Attack neutralises any attack thrown at me, even if it's one of my own." It's Lila's turn she draws and smiles, looking up from her hand "This duel is over!" The clown frowns at the sudden confidence in her tone."

"First I'll use my Monster Reborn magic card!"

"Oh no! That allows you to revive any monster lost in this duel from either deck!"

"You know the rules, congrats. Now who to pick? I know. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" this dragon appears on Lila's field, in perfect health as it curls around Lila's monsters, since it's so big.

"Fat lot of good that move's gonna do you. Both of these monsters are evenly matched!"

"Their powers aren't the same," the clown does a double take at Lila's retort "Your dragon stands alone while mine has allies standing at it's side. And it can make use of their strength. Thanks to my United We Stand magic card. My Blue-Eyes gains eight hundred attack for every monster on my field. Teammates can make even the weakest monster strong, but someone already strong given help? That makes them unbeatable. And I have Kaiba to thank!" Lila's Blue-Eye's attack raises all the way to sixty two hundred as a glow appears around each of Lila's monsters and fades into the dragon as it roars in triumph.

"This can't be happening!"

"Consider this a message from the real Seto Kaiba! You lose! Blue-Eyes White Lightning!" Lila's dragon opens it's maw, the lightning crackling before it fires it at the weaker dragon, shattering it and continuing on to blast at the clown, the light brightening even more as all the spectators have to shield their eyes from the light. Kemo takes this moment to escape with the boy. When the light clears, the life point counter of Lila's opponent has fallen to zero. Yugi then steps forward "Pegasus may've helped you escape the Shadow Realm once before but it won't happen again, never again!" He throw his hand out and much like when the Dark Magician attacks, everything turn to a film negative and shatters. The ghost is banished. The eye on Yugi's forehead changes from gold to a dazzling multi colour that he uses to sent a message to Pegasus _I sense you are watching. Consider this a warning. Nothing you send against me or my friends will stop us. And when we finally fuel, believe me, victory will be mine! I'll win back my grandfather's soul and you will pay for all the people you've hurt in the name of your sick little game! I'm coming for you Pegasus!_

Lila gets down from her podium and runs over to the red one which has been left empty after whatever the other Yugi did to the evil clown. She lets the pedestal raise and looks at Kaiba's deck, the Blue-Eyes card on to top. She gently picks up the cards while her friends all talk about the ghost and the disappearance of Mokuba. Looks like that's someone else they need to try and save from Pegasus. She puts Kaiba's deck in the case with her cards, being careful not to mix the two up. Lila looks down at her friends as she comes back down the ghost's podium, the other Yugi placing a hand on her shoulder to give her some quiet support. She smiles her thanks and lets out a deep breath, leaning into his side. That duel took a lot out of her, emotionally and mentally. She closes her eyes and her knees almost give out, making the others look at her in concern. She waves them off "I'll be fine, just give a minute to get my breath back."


	10. 10 Dueling Monkey & Trial by Red-Eyes

**_Sheesh this is a long one._**

* * *

Ten - The Duelling Monkey & Trial By Red-Eyes

After the goon's disappearance with Mokuba, the group search the area surrounding the clearing, shouting the boy's name, hoping that he managed to escape. However as the sky turns to a bright orange colour, they all meet up back in the clearing, no look on finding him.

"Those thugs must have snatched him back to Pegasus' castle," Tristan remarks as he rejoins the group.

"So now they've got your grandpa and Kaiba's little brother too?" at Tea's question the group all turn to look at the castle that has fallen into shadows as Joey answers the brunette girl "Looks that way."

"It's just another reason for us to win those ten star chips and get in there," Yugi states determinedly, lifting his duel glove clad hand up in a fist while Lila glances down at her almost fill glove. Just three more chips and she's in the finals, it shouldn't be long now for her or Yugi. Though Joey still needs to find another opponent or two "No doubt." The blond in question nods in response to their friend, making Lila glance up and smile at him. Then something catches Joey's eye and he glances to the ground next to him. There are Duel Monster card laying on the ground around Tristan's feet "It's my lucky day!" The blonde quickly reaches down for them, the saying 'finders keepers' already running through his mind.

"Hands off! Those are mine," Tristan interrupts, and Lila looks over the few that are face up. Yeah she saw him looking at those cards when they were all at the game shop before the video tape from Pegasus arrived, some of them aren't half bad either considering Tristan is a lot like Joey and barely understands how to build a balanced deck without help.

"Cool Tristan, I didn't know you were training to become a duellist," Yugi remarks and Tristan and Lila crouch down with Joey to gather up his cards, Tristan taking one straight out of the frowning Joey's hand as he responds with "Yeah. Well I figured if a doofus like Joey can hold his own in this game, then hey, I'll probably be an expert at it." Normally Joey would respond to that comment, probably by yelling but instead he looks down at one of the few face up monsters left after Lila has picked the majority of the cards up into a stack and started rummaging through her bag for her spare deck box.

"Whoa, I recognise that monster," Joey picks up the card in question and Yugi looks over his shoulder as the boy stands asking "Haven't I seen that card in your deck Joey?"

"Not this one, but I think I got somethin' just like it," he then takes his cards out of his pocket, oblivious to Lila's sigh of annoyance, especially since Tristan has just shoved his back into his own pocket, not bothering with the box Lila took out, and looks through the cards until he finds the one he's talking about "Bingo Swamp Battleguard. Well, would you take a look at this? These two look like their long lost brothers," he then turns to Tristan with a wide, cheesy grin "Of course that doesn't mean your boy packs the same kind of wallop mine does."

"His wallop is just fine," Tristan's face scrunches up in annoyance "My Lava Battleguard has never let me down. Try him out you'll see." Lila smiles to herself, even when they are teasing each other, those two always end up helping each other out. Joey looks over the card and with a more genuine smile turns to his friend "Thanks. It does say they work best together."

"You know what?" Tea pipes up with a sly grin at the two boys who are looking over the two monsters "I think I kinda see a resemblance between you two and those muscle heads." Lila starts to chuckle quietly into her fist, Yugi doing much the same while Tea doesn't even try to be subtle and just outright laughs at the two of them.

"Laugh it up," Joey says "I take that as a compliment."

* * *

Coming out of the trees and into a more open area, the teenagers come across a large group of kids with no duel arenas in sight. Looks like people are starting to take the darkening sky as a sign that it might be time to call it a day and find a place to set up camp rather then worry about the competition. _With everything we've dealt with, hard to believe it's been just a day, _Lila thinks as she tries to be discreet and hide her yawn while Tea comments on the gathered people "After all the crazy duellists we've been running into, it's nice to see some normal kids for a change."

"Yeah how about it tough guy?" Tristan asks from behind Joey's shoulder "Any of these tykes puny enough for you to take on, or do you wanna go looking for some three year olds?" Of course Tea can't be left out of the teasing.

"Come on, be nice. You know Joey's just biding his time until he finds a duelling monkey to challenge," like whenever Tea makes a joke, even when, like this one, it wasn't all that funny, Yugi laughs to himself, making Lila roll her eyes. She's all for good natured teasing but those two seriously need to give it a rest, it's just starting to get annoying. And as Tristan congratulates Tea on coming up with a good one, Lila looks over and sees the blonde's clenched teeth and shaking shoulders, taking a step back before he-

"Who wants some?" explodes "Just one more word about duelling monkeys and I'm gonna-" There is a feminine laugh that makes him pause his threat. Recognising it as the rest of the group glance behind him, Lila offering the owner of the laugh a small wave, Joey's entire body tenses up "Oh no, tell me that's not who I think it it." He turns to see Mai standing there.

"How are you Joseph, glad to see me?"

"Ecstatic," Joey responds, his voice deadpan.

"So Joey, is Yugi still fighting all your battles for you?" Mai taunts, a slight smirking edge to her smile "Everyone knows if Yugi wasn't there to hold your hand, you wouldn't have beat me. Isn't that right Yugi?"

"That's not true."

"Oh really?" Mai puts her hand to her hip "The I propose he steps out of your shadow here and now. If Joey thinks he's so tough," she dramatically points at the green jacket wearing boy "Let's see him play for himself," Joey, slightly shocked by Mai's challenge takes a moment before he responds, causing Mai to sigh "I'm waiting for your answer Joey. Think you have the guts to step up and face the duellist I've arranged for you?"

"It's not you?" Mai chuckles to herself and out from behind the tree she's standing next to a shortish boy with very recognisable hair steps out "I'm duelling on Mai's behalf recognise me?"

"That's Rex Raptor."

"This twerp suppose to scare me or somethin'?" Lila has to stop herself from face palming. She really needs to cut down on doing that whenever Joey says or does something stupid or she's going to end up with a bruise and a massive headache "I betcha he ain't so tough."

"Don't you remember Joey?" Tea chastises, popping up behind the blonde's shoulder "Rex placed second in the regionals." Mai smirks more obviously, leaning back on her back foot, her posture becoming more confident and cocky "Well Joey? You gotta ask mommy's permission or what?" Looks like Mai knows all about Joey's easy reactions to taunts, not that it's hard to pick up on but she's easily using it to her advantage.

"No way! This is my fight," both Tea and Tristan respond with annoyed shock while Lila steps out from behind the group to stand more at Yugi's side while Tea asks the tall boy "What are you trying to prove?"

"Really bro. Pick your battles," Lila pays more attention to the gravelly voiced little snot with a slight frown. Rex looks way to eager for this, he's definitely getting something out of this duel other then the chance for more star chips. Plus he's a total creep so he needs to be kept an eye on to make sure he doesn't do anything skeezy. Why Mai is hanging around with him, the short girl doesn't know. She thought Mai had better taste then that "Oh an by the way," Mai's voice makes everyone look to her "If little Yugi or dear Lila do any of their backseat duelling, then Joey is disqualified and the match automatically goes to Rex." That stipulation makes Lila wince, not so much herself but while Joey does have some natural talent at the game, he tends to act too quickly and still needs a bit of coaching. This is going to be tough "What do ya say Joey? This is your big chance to prove yourself, or are you gonna back out?"

"Of course he is, we all-"

"No!" Joey interrupts Tea, shooting her a look that tells her to keep out of it "That's the way I want it. Just me and him. It may cost me all my star chips but I don't deserve to keep 'em if the only reason I'm winnin' is 'cause of Yugi and Lila's smarts. All my life people are tryin' to help me 'cause they think I can't help myself. Well, I don't need to be babied this time." While Yugi, Tea and Lila look at Joey with concern, Tristan just keeps with being hostile about his friend's decision "You've lost it Joey. You can believe whatever you want, but I won't just stand here and watch you throw your chips away. I hope you guys don't mind but little Joey won't be comin' out to duel today. Maybe once he grows up we can arrange a play date." Lila sighs and moves to stop what she knows is going to happen, but she isn't quick enough as Joey shouts "That's it!" and punches Tristan square in the jaw, clearing having had enough. This is what happens when you spend so long taunting. Everyone else watching gasps in shock as the hit sends Tristan to the ground.

"Hey, whadja punch me for?" Tristan wipes his face with the sleeve of his coat, looking up at the still glaring Joey "Didn't ya hear what I just said wise guy? I'm tired of everyone thinkin' they gotta come to my rescue."

"But that's not how it is," Yugi points out, not liking seeing his two friends fight "Friends look out for each other-"

"Yugi," Lila says, making the short boy look over to her and see her shaking her head. With the way Joey's head is now, they aren't going to be able to get through to him. He needs to blow off some steam. Yugi sighs but takes the girl's silent advice and stops what he is saying. He's knows Joey just as much as her and she's right to make him stop. Right now, his words are not only falling on deaf ears, but they'll make Joey more hostile to the group in response.

"Just let me do what I gotta do."

"Great idea, do whatcha gotta do. Even if it means losing the chance to help your sister," Tristan continues to scold as he gets to his feet and glares at the angry blonde. Mentioning his sister does make Joey pause as he thinks about her but is doesn't make him back down so Tea tries her hand at calming the hot head down "Listen let's just cool off a sec and-" but Tristan has had enough at this points.

"Forget it. If Mr Macho wants to lose, he can do it by himself." Tristan turns and waves Tea's words off as he walk away, ignoring Yugi as he calls after him "Let him go." Seeing the tension, Rex can't help but butt his nose in where it's neither needed or wanted.

"Ah some trouble in paradise?"

"Stay outta this!"Joey puts his hand up to Tea, no need for her to get herself worked up at Rex when he's just trying to bait Joey.

"So, what's it gonna be? You gonna run off with your friend or start acting like a real duellist?" Mai taunts and Lila notices something. It's not Rex's words that are getting to Joey, it's the blonde lady's. Joey plasters on a smirk as he talks to the older blonde "I'm still here ain't I?" he then glances over to the two more experienced duellists in the group "Yugi, Lila, no offence, but I want you two to keep outta this one." While Yugi is a little unsure, he eventually follows Lila's lead and nods, agreeing to the set out terms.

"All right, then it's dino feeding time," Rex tries to act intimidating but it's ruined by Lila responding with "Sure, but first do you need a throat soother? You sound like you have a real bad sore throat." Mai actually chuckles a little into her hand at that, which makes Rex shoot Lila a dark look. However nothing else is said as the area appears behind Rex and Mai. The duellists get on the podiums while those watching gather round.

"We believe in you Joey!" Tea shouts as Joey rises up to the blue podium "Just don't forget what you're fighting for!" Joey looks more serious then he ever has playing this game, which shows he's more effected by his opponent then he was letting on.

"Rex! Don't forget out deal! Beat him and you get to duel with me!" Mai shouts to the short boy and Lila smiles, now she gets what's going on with those two.

"I can't believe you reduced yourself to bein' Mai's attack dog," Joey calls across the field, using his hand to cover the side of his mouth like he's telling Rex a secret even though he has to speak loudly in order to be heard by the sniggering boy.

"Least I'm no duelling monkey!" Rex retorts, showing he had overheard Tea's joke, though it was definitely a bad idea to repeat the taunt as it just makes Joey angrier, making Rex pull back as the boy growls "So how many chips do you wanna lose to my dinos?"

"I got two! Put I plan on doublin' 'em right here!" Joey's not one to play it safe.

"You wish! I bet your deck isn't even prepared for field we're playing on," Rex taunts as a wasteland appears on his and a meadow appears on Joey. Okay the meadow she understands, but if the fields are meant to mimic the surrounding environment, where did the wasteland come from? And once again, one of their group has to deal with a field that gives their opponent an advantage. They really need to start picking a field on something other then, it's the closest one. Joey is quiet as he thinks up the best way to play this but Rex soon has enough "Quit stalling, let's duel."

"Hey girls," Lila and Tea look over to Yugi "Keep rooting Joey on for us, I gotta go see about something," he then proceeds to run off leaving the two girls frowning after him. While Tea watches him take off in the same direction Tristan went, Lila turns back to this duel, she may not be able to help but she can see watch. Joey gets to draw first, she doesn't like going first, means she has to let her opponent make the first attack. Joey looks at his cards and smiles "Pay dirt. I couldn't have asked for a better hand." He then laughs and Lila sighs, so much for keeping your opponent guessing, with his reaction Joey might as well shout 'I have an amazing first hand' for everyone to hear. He then looks over and notices that Yugi isn't watching and Tea is still looking away from the field "Where'd Yugi go?" He shrugs it off and turns back to the duel.

"Baby Dragon defence mode!" Joey call and the cute little dragon appears on the field, making Lila sigh, well now she knows what Joey was so giddy about, he's going to try and pull off summoning Thousand Dragon again, which is a bad idea to try this early. Rex looks in confusion, which Joey takes to mean that Rex knows somethings up but instead he responds by summoning his signature monster "Two-Headed King Rex, attack!" The winged, purple dinosaur roars threateningly and takes out Joey's dragon by simply stepping on it "Poor baby! Looks like we found out what he was made of."

"But I didn't get to play my combo," Lila sighs and takes a step over to Mai asking "Please can I say something, just this once." Mai looks to the shorter girl, actually interested in what she wants to say and nods, allowing it since she didn't help out as much as Yugi in Joey's duel with her. Lila turns to the field and shouts out "Don't play a key part of your combo first thing if you can protect it you idiot! You save it!" she then turns back to a snickering Mai "That was it." Was more of a constructive criticism then help.

"And do you know why?" Rex adds on as Joey looks sheepishly over to Lila "Because even three year olds know better than to defend on their first move." Lila frowns at that, there's actually good reasons to defend, if you have a high defence point monster it can lure your opponent into hurting themselves with an attack. Lila herself has a couple of those cards that she is more then happy to throw out her first turn if she draws them "I can't believe you actually did that you rookie!"

"Everybody makes mistakes Joey," Tea calls, trying to make him feel better about his goof "Just try not to make another one." Lila rolls her eyes, that sounded half hearted, even to her. Mai laughs condescending and turns to Tea "You don't get it do you. Little Joey's already made the one fatal mistake that's gonna cost him this entire duel. And that was ever agreeing to this match in the first place." Lila frowns, Joey may have made a mistake that is definitely major with the way he runs his deck, but there's still hope. The kid has insane levels of luck, he can do this, he just needs to use his head a little more then his gut.

"With your Baby Dragon crushed, my Two-Headed King Rex can terrorise the field for the rest of this match!" Rex boasts while Lila turns to Mai with a slight sly smile saying "He's confident in that wannabe Barnie isn't he? Thinks he understands that sixteen hundred is actually a pretty average attack?" Mai smiles, nodding along with Lila.

"Or that magic cards even exist," Mai whispers back and Lila chuckles to herself. It's nice to see that just because she's pitting him and Joey against each other, she doesn't really care about if Rex wins either way. She just wants someone to beat Joey so she can feel better about losing to him.

"Alright, maybe I did screw up," Joey acknowledges "But I think I still have one monster in my hand that can beat that thing," Joey looks down to his cards "Leogun! Show that over grown iguana who the real king of beasts is!" The monster is a black furred lion with a yellow mane. It growls softly and runs across the field at the dinosaur, making Lila frown. On paper Leogun does have higher stats but when Rex laughs she knows something is off.

"You amateur. Since we're on a wilderness field my King Rex gets a nice fat power boost!" looks like beasts don't get a power up from meadow, just warriors and beast warriors, that's something to file away for the future "Tough luck for your pussy cat!" Even with the bonus though, his attack barely clears two thousand, that's actually not that impressive when you compare it to the boosted attack some monsters end up with.

"Field bonus? Now he tells me!"

"King Rex! Foot stomp!" it's like in the cartoons, the giant dinosaur slams it's foot down onto the feline monster and it flattens before shattering into pixels, dropping Joey's life points down to sixteen seventy "Let's go! You're the appetiser, I wanna get onto the main course!"

"Great now I'm hungry," Lila says with a frown as she absentmindedly places a hand on her stomach. She doesn't have that many snack bars left in her bag and if the others get hungry she'd rather save them. Then a sandwich of all things appears in front of her. She looks to Mai who is putting her bag over her shoulder "Here hun. Can't duel on an empty stomach." Lila smiles in thanks, taking the food and quickly digging into it.

"I still got plenty to serve up," despite sounding confident, Joey looks back down at his cards, looking unsure "That is if I've finally figured out how to use this field power bonus thing right. Here goes nothing. Axe Raider!" Joey summons a warrior who, like the name suggests, is armed with a large axe and wearing armour over his shoulders and a helmet but little else in the way of protective clothing. The important thing is he's a warrior on a meadow field meaning "Hey, hey he got the power bonus." He slashes with his axe, making a wave of energy slice through Rex's monster and dropping the pro down to eighteen seventy. Still more but now Joey's got a decently strong monster to protect him and seems to have an idea on which type are the best to summon.

"Don't let it go to your head! Sword Arm Of Dragon!" this thing is bright yellow and orange, looking like a blue plated stegosaurus only instead of spikes on it's tail, it's a wicked sharp looking blade "Cut that Axe Raider down to side! Sword tail slash!" It fires it's tail at Joey's monster stabbing right through it and Joey's life points take another hit. It's only a small one but it's still damage. Dishearted, Joey looks down, this isn't looking good, he's already lost three monsters and even if he powers up his monster, it doesn't seem to be enough.

"Joey!" Tea calls out "Don't let that dino-dork intimidate you. Remember we're all right behind you!" Despite Tea's words, Joey doesn't perk up. He looks over to where Lila and Mai are stood talking and over to the empty space next to Tea where Tristan and Yugi should be, right now it doesn't feel like he's got his friends rooting for him. He knows Lila doesn't mean for it to seem like she doesn't have his back, she doesn't often meet people she gets on with, but does it have to be Mai? Maybe he shouldn't have pushed Tristan away so hard. How is he suppose to help his sister if, as soon as things get even a little tough, he keeps needing his friends to bail him out. He shakes his head, trying to push the doubt away, he has to believe he can win this, if he doesn't think he can win then who will? He looks down at his hand, trying to force his brain to come up with a strategy. He still has his time wizard, he may not be able to use it with his Baby Dragon but that doesn't make it worthless.

"Time Wizard," he plays it face down in the spell and trap area so it can't be attacked by any of Rex's monsters. Mai pauses in what she and Lila were talking about and looks up over at Joey's field, recognising the card Joey played "Raptor, watch that Time Wizard!"

"Ah," he brushes off Mai's warning "Without Yugi's help this chump doesn't even know how to use it!" Mai frowns at that, the dino brain does have a point, Joey did need Yugi to tell him how to use it, well that tall Yugi anyway. She still has no idea what that is all about. Still she settles back in and watches the rest of the turn play out "I'm playing Rock Ogre in defence."

"You see? I know the rookie didn't know what he was doing," Rex brags as he summons a new monster, this one a triceratops looking creature "Megazowler! Wreck that rock old school style." _What does that even mean? _Lila thinks, glancing at Mai with a raised eyebrow but the blond just shrugs, she doesn't understand half of what Rex says either "Horn ramming charge attack!" The yellow dinosaur runs full speed into Joey's monster, shattering it, luckily he doesn't take any damage "Reduced to rubble! I sure sent him back to the stone ages." The girls watching all groan, this guy really enjoys the sound of his own voice.

"Fine! Go Flame Swordsman! Turn up the heat and carve that dino like it was a big turkey," Joey throws his favourite monster out in attack mode, it get decently strong with the field power bonus, it's attack power raising all the way up to twenty three forty, that's not bad.

"Didn't you see what I did to your Rock Ogre? Do you really think that your puny little Flame Swordsman will last any longer? Looks like I'm gonna have to teach you respect for my dinos the hard way! Attack!" Rex's Megazowler runs at Joey's warrior and Mai groans before she shouts up at him "Rex you big dino-dummy!"

"Flaming sword of battle!" Joey calls out his monster attack and fire rises up from the hilt of his monsters sword until it engulfs the blade then he uses it to slash at the attacking reptile, destroying it in a single hit, which takes Rex back in shock "Tell me how a swordsman can beat a dinosaur?" He isn't the only one surprised, Joey is just as shocked too as he stares at the field dumbfounded "I actually one that?" This time Lila doesn't even bother to hold back her face palm as she shakes her head. He had no idea he's win and he still called out his counter attack? Really? That boy is the very definition of dumb luck.

"There is no way Joey could have known that dinosaur cards are especially vulnerable to fire. That jerk! He totally lucked out on that one," Mai says, her brow furrowing as she looks at the field in annoyance, though she does crack a small smile when Lila pipes up with "You think that's lucky you should see him during a pop quiz in class." Joey laughs nervously before he starts boasting as if he had known this all along "Looks like I found the secret to beating your dinos. Hope your not to sore about it. Get it? Sore, dino. Dinosaur?" Rex it getting more worked up the more Joey talks and to be honest the spectators can't blame him. That joke was just painful. Rex switches his Sword Arm Of Dragon into defence mode, it's stronger stats, but it's still no match against Joey's monster, the fire negating the field power bonus so it has to rely on it's original stats against the Flame Swordman's buffed ones.

* * *

It goes on for a few rounds, Joey's single monster slicing through numerous dinosaur monsters placed on the field, causing Tea to cheer loudly "Yeah! I knew you were gonna make a comeback Joey!"

"This is far from over you know. One card won't win this for you."

"Alrighty then, I'll just bring out another for you. Swamp Battleguard," it's the green ogre monster that Joey and Tristan were talking about a little earlier on, the one Joey had originally.

"Big deal! I have a beast that'll wipe that smirk off your face permanently," Rex draws and smirks when he sees what he's drawn "Alright! Meet the top link of the food chain! Serpent Night Dragon!" It's a dark scaled lizard with a long, snake like body, huge talons for how thin it is and relatively small wings in the very middle of it's body "This rare card's awarded to the elite few who have made it to the final round of the regional championships. But for a loser like you it should be an honour just to get thrashed by it! Nightmare sonic blast!" The snake like dragon makes a weird, vibration like noise as strange dark shapes fly around it before slicing into the Flame Swordsman, destroying it.

"He was my best card," Joey says, not quite able to believe that his favourite monster has been destroyed.

"Oh poor Joey," Joey barely puts the effort into drawing his card for this turn, half given up until he sees what he's pulled. It's the card that Tristan told him to use, seeing it something dawns on the poofy haired blonde and he quietly says to himself "Man. All this time and it finally hits me. Tristan's always been looking out for me, not because he thinks I always need his help, but because he's a true friend."

"Yo Joey!" Joey and Lila both look to see that the brunette boy has come back, so that's where Yugi ran off to, he was looking for the other knucklehead "We're here for ya buddy! So how 'bout it? You gonna take that card of mine for a test drive or what?" Lila waves to Mai as she rejoins the group, joining the smiles that the gang is all back together as she slaps Tristan on the arm, he looks to her as he rubs it, for such a small girl, Lila really packs a punch when she puts the effort in. Seeing all his friends together, Joey smiles "You got it pal! Go Lava Battleguard!"

"Cool! My card's on the field!"

"What a touching reunion! To bad my Serpent Night Dragon is gonna blast it to shreds! Now attack the green one!" the dragon lets out it's strange vibration screech and the shadows appear again but just as they are suppose to make contact with Joey's Swamp Battleguard, there is an explosion that fires it back at the dragon "What? My sonic blasts are being deflected!" Everyone watches as Rex's dragon writhes around before it is destroyed by it's own attack "How was my dragon's attack repelled? There aren't any trap cards out!" Mai is shocked while the gang cheers, the smoke clearly letting everyone see just what happened and Tristan is quick to point out his monster's actions "I get it. The red one blocked for the green one."

"Tristan's card was there right when I needed it most."

"Of course," Yugi explains to those who are still unsure by what just happened "Those two monsters are like best friends, so when they're together on the field they help power each other up," he then turns to Tristan and adds in a slightly know it all tone "Just like how you and Joey help each other out in real life huh Tristan?"

"That's what being a buddy is all about."

"Thanks for everything man. I owe ya," Tristan gives his friend a thumbs up and smile.

"What a team. Not only did you take out Rex's monster but you made a nice dent in his life points too," Rex is all the way down to eight hundred and forty. It's not looking good for him.

"Right, and now that we're together again-"

"There's not a monster Rex has that can stop us!" Despite how certain those two are, Rex doesn't seem as worried as he should be, clearly he's got a plan of his own to prove them wrong.

"Your horned freaks may have won control of the field, but now it's time to see if you can hold onto it," Rex places a monster in defence mode. Unfortunately since Joey can only attack once and has to target a monster, as long as Rex keeps playing his monster in defence mode, he can draw this duel out for as long as he wants until he is able to implement whatever strategy he's thinking of "Trakadon."

"Battleguard! Give that card a bashing!" this time it's the red on that launches the attack and smashes it's club down on Rex's monster.

"Wow look at 'em glow!" Tristan remarks and Lila nods, she hadn't noticed that before, it's like when Command Knight powers up a warrior when Lila's duelling "Those guys are some kind of tag team."

"You're right about that, the power bonus they gain from both being on the field at the same time makes them a tough duo to beat."

"No joke, and since Joey's already taken out Rex's best monster card, the rest'll be cake," even Lila can't help but feel the same optimism the rest of the group displays, it certainly has been a turn around from Rex domination. Since he got out his Flame Swordsman, and even after losing it, Joey's gone from strength to strength in this duel. It's actually a thrill to watch. And will hopefully put to bed all those jokes about him not being up to the same standards as the rest of the people competing in this tournament "Finish 'im bro!" Joey nods but Rex laughs, making Joey look to him in shock.

"Who said that Serpent Night Dragon Joey destroyed two turns ago was my best card?" Rex draws and smirks "My supreme monster is a dragon but of a different sort! The Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

"Not good!" Lila blurts out as soon as she hears the monster's name while Mai responds with "A what dragon?" This dragon is a lot scarier then the spindly serpent like dragon from before. It's scales are midnight black and it hard large wings and threatening talons. It's got a more skeletal looking body shape but there is still clear muscle under the scales that, even though it is only a hologram, look strong enough to take on anything. It's eyes are what make it scariest though, they are a glowing molten red.

"Your pair of primates can power up until they're green in the face. They're still no match for the thrashing power of this beast."

"So it does exist," Yugi says quietly, his voice and eyes full of awe as he stares at the black dragon "My grandpa told me about this card. You remember Lila?" she nods "It's powers are said to rival those of the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon." The group aren't the only ones staring at the new dragon in shock, Mai is too "It's about time Rex played a card that'll put Joey in his place," oddly she doesn't sound as excited as she should.

"And if you think those brain dead brutes of yours will rescue each other from this dragon's rampage, think again! With Dragon Nails, my Red-Eyes gets a power boost strong enough to clobber an army of your Battleguards," the dragon's talons turn a more metallic in appearance, and they got a lot sharper "Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Inferno Fire Blast!" An orb of flaming red energy appears in the dragon's mouth as it let's out it's high pitched screech, before it fired the blast at Joey's monsters, destroying them both.

"How could he torch 'em both with just one shot?"

"Those who defend together are destroyed together. Don't tell me you thought their little clubs would be enough to save them from my dragon's wrath."

"That creep," Tristan scowls at the long haired boy as he laughs, watching Joey's life points drop two a measly two hundred and thirty five.

"That's a good boy Rex," Mai says, laughing softly to herself, back to the Mai who wants to see her lapdog win this "Nice work."

"Do you smell that odour in the air Joey? It's the stench of your defeated Battleguards! Whose up next for the roast?" Rex cackles.

"Gotta stay calm," Joey tells himself, closing his eyes and ducking his head.

"Hang in there!" Tristan shouts and Tea crouches down to talk quietly to Yugi "Yugi tell me that dragon isn't as tough as it looks. I mean, there must be something Joey can do to stop it." Yugi looks back to the field and frowns to himself, Lila knowing exactly what he's thinking because she is thinking something pretty similar. Wanting to answer what they know could save Joey, but knowing that saying it would get Joey disqualified.

"Play every monster you got, my dragon has enough fire power to turn your whole deck into a smouldering pile of ash!" despite not wanting to let Rex know he's right, Joey can't lie to himself. He doesn't have anything in his deck that can stand up to the Red-Eyes that is towering on the field, it's gleaming eyes staring at him "Yo Joey, you may not have the monster to beat that thing but you got the smarts!"

"We're not giving up on you Joey!"

"Don't forget! Duelling's more about heart then strength!"

"And you've got the biggest heart of all of us!"

"Now show this lizard what you're made of," Joey's eyes soften at his friends words of encouragement. They still believe in him, which means he can believe in himself. If they say he can win this then he can, he just needs to figure out how. He draws and looks at the card he picks up with wide eyes.

"Yeah, that it Joey! Slap down another card for my Red-Eyes to fry up," Rex taunts then he looks to the field remembering a card Joey already has on the field, the one Mai warned him about. His Time Wizard. Getting sick of Rex's taunting and dragging out, Mai start yelling at him to hurry up and win this duel like he promised her he would. The sight makes Lila chuckle into her fist. Right now Mai's acting like Tomas' ex-girlfriend, who he dumped because she would always act like that. Rex too seems annoyed with the nagging and the insult and he has the perfect idea to get her to shut up once and for all. Plus it'll make it really easy for him to beat her in their duel "Oh Joey! I have an idea. Let's make this duel more exciting and each put one card up for grabs with out star chips. And just so it's fair, we'll both put up whatever card we have on the field. Sound good?" Lila tilts her head to the side at that. That's not a bad deal. If Joey wins he gets an awesome monster that would actually fit him perfectly if what Yugi's grandpa said about what the Red-Eyes represents, but on the other hand, Joey would be risking a card that was a gift from a friend. She knows that in his position, she doesn't think she'd be able to agree to it. But then, she's always been sentimental, just asked the stuffed frog she's had since she was six.

"I don't have any cards on the-" Joey responds in confusion as he looks down at his field "Oh yeah. My Time Wizard. I forgot about that," Lila's head drops, he actually forgot what he had out? This boy is hopeless.

"And for him, I'll give you my rarest card, the supreme Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Mai is less then thrilled with that "Just what do you think you're doing you disobedient dolt? You're here to take Joey out of this tournament not to improve your deck." Rex grunts and tells Mai to stay out of it, bad idea, clearly this boy isn't use to dealing with high maintenance girls "Rex you double crossing snake, I know what you're scheming!"

"I'm no lousy snake. I'm a dinosaur, you know that!"

"No you're an idiot!" Lila blurts out, actually on Mai's side on this know, she knows full well why Rex proposed this, he thinks he's going to win and wants to get his hands on a card he knows Mai can't beat. Rex scowls at Lila but can't spit out a response to her because Mai is once again berating him. All the while Joey is silent. His head trying to wrap around the idea of owning a card like the Red-Eyes, rare and powerful, it would help people respect him in this tournament, stop treating him like a rookie who doesn't belong. But then he doesn't want Yugi to think he doesn't appreciate the Time Wizard and that it's only use is to use as a bargaining chip. Then he realises that he doesn't have to risk losing his card, and how to win this duel. All thanks to Rex.

"You got a deal Rex. You Red-Eyes dragon and my Time Wizard, winner takes all."

"Yeah!" Rex cheers, thinking he's got it in the bag, but Lila smirks. He really shouldn't have pointed out Time Wizard to Joey, it's going to cost him dearly.

"It's a gutsy move," Yugi remarks but he can see Lila's smirk and is a little comforted by her confidence in their friend.

"But while I'm at it Rex, I'm making him my weapon of choice too!" Joey flips his card onto the field "Go Time Wizard." The goofy little clock man appears on the field, and Rex recoils "What are you doing!"

"And he's won," Lila shrugs, throwing a smile Mai's way, Tea looks at her in confusion and she nods to Yugi who explains "Joey just found out the best possible move for this situation."

"This wouldn't be happening if you'd just obeyed my commands Rex," Mai's right, it's his own fault.

"I hope you packed you bags Rex, 'cause if my Time Wizard's spin arrow lands on a time warp, you'll be on the next boat off this island," that makes Lila confused. How'd Joey figure that? Rex'll still have three chips left, oh well, she shrugs it off, no need to rain on the boy's parade.

"Do you really wanna leave this entire duel up to a single spin? You do know what'll happen if that arrow lands on a skull, don't ya?"

"It's a risk I gotta take. Time roulette go!" the arrow starts to spin and as they watch, Yugi explains the risk to Tea while Lila watches with a smile as her hands are clenched at her heart. _Come on arrow, don't prove me wrong about Joey's luck. Time warp!_

"I can't believe this entire duel has come down to one spin. It's almost too nerve-racking to even watch!"

"All we can do now if hope that arrow doesn't land on a skull."

"Okay. Then let's stay hopin'," _Way ahead of you Tristan. _Lila is actually holding her breath for this one as the arrow spins around the top of the staff. It starts to slow and everyone's heart is in their throat as they watch it. It seems to land on the skull but at the last minute, much to the gang's collective sigh of relief, the arrow snaps up to land on the top time warp. They let out a chorus of cheers for Joey "Alright! Time warp, go!" The little wizard waves his wand around the the holo field shows the passing of eons around the players "You jerk. Look what you've done! The entire space time continuum is speeding out of control. Eons are passing like seconds!" When it's all over, everyone is staring at Rex's monster in shock.

"He's been... fossilised."

"No. He hasn't. He's still standing. Sure he's beginning to grey a little, but that natural. Go on and have him attack Rex. Go on Rex!" While Rex does follow Mai's instructions, it's clear he has no idea if this is going to work and when he orders Red-Eyes to attack, the stone head starts to crack and falls before the rest of the body crumbles after it.

"The millions of years that Joey's Time Wizard made pass has turned Rex's dragon into a brittle shell of dust," Yugi explains to the gobsmacked Tea and Tristan who honestly, can't believe what they are seeing. As his life points fall to zero, Rex remarks "So I guess you won my star chips huh?" Joey let's out a relieved sigh, then he realises what Rex has said "Wait a second. Not only did I win your star chips, but I won your Red-Eyes too, fair and square." Rex bursts into tears at that, he'd been hoping Joey wasn't paying attention and he could keep his prized card. No such luck, even if Joey hadn't remembered, the rest of the group would have.

"And he did it all by himself too!" Yugi cheers as Lila walks over to Mai and chuckles "I told you he was insanely lucky." She watches Joey run towards the group expecting to celebrate and end up getting clocked by Tristan, knocking him to the floor since he wasn't expecting it. She laughs and shakes her head as she watches the two quickly devolve into an argument once again. She loves those boys but man are they idiot, the pair of them. Tea seems to have the same idea as Lila to just let the boys let it out of their system since at this point it seems like fighting is the way those two bond. And she has to laugh at Yugi's response of "I just hope they don't care about me that much," as the boy's start to pull on each other's faces.


	11. 11 Evil Spirit Of The Ring

_**So the beginning of this one is the end of Trail By Red Eyes, but since it is basically a set up for the next episode I put it in the chapter with this one, plus otherwise the last chapter would be over ten thousand words. Also it fits more here then there and just putting the end of last episode in was over two and a half thousand words. Also Yugi will be using a couple of cards he doesn't use in the anime with this episode, coz otherwise my OC couldn't be a monster in this episode. Also here's an interesting note, this is the first episode of Yugioh that I ever watched so it's got a special place in heart.**_

_**Virtual cookies to whoever spots the reference to the Japanese version.**_

* * *

Eleven - Evil Spirit Of The Ring

"Boy it sure got dark in a hurry," Yugi remarks as the group are back in the woods "Yeah, maybe we ought to set up camp somewhere."

"Don't tell me you're afraid Tea," Tristan teasing the cautious girl as they walk "You got us protecting you."

"Yeah, but whose protecting you guys?"

"Uh, good point. Let's set up camp," but Joey isn't having any of it "Relax guys. There's nothing in these woods but crickets and squirrels." Still Joey goes along with the rest of the group as they find a decent sized clearly to set up in. Unfortunately, since none of them really brought much with them, they don't actually manage to get up camp. They just end up sitting around by a tree as Tristan tries to tell them a rather underwhelming horror story. Of course since it involves food, it sets Joey off and like a werewolf he rises up to the moon and shouts "If I don't get some food in me, I'm gonna be turning into a ghost!"

"I offered my fruit bars, you wouldn't take 'em. Not my fault they're gone now," after his duel with Rex, Lila had handed the last of the bars out to Yugi, Tea and Tristan, Joey had once again turned his nose up to them so he didn't get one and Lila had already had that sandwich from Mai.

"Those two and their stomachs, huh Yugi?" Tea remarks, like she hadn't wolfed Lila's food down as quickly as the rest of them. Then Joey spots a large, brightly coloured mushroom growing among the roots of the tree "Hey, my meal ticket!" Tristan quickly dives to restrain his friend to stop him eating the probably poisonous mushroom, which Yugi tries to explain, but the boy isn't having any of it until he hears Mai saying "So do us all a favour and let him eat it."

"Now what do you want Mai?" instead of answering, she just takes a big bite out of a chocolate bar, making the group, sans Lila sniff the air comically in response "That is," Joey scrunches his face up in annoyance "You can duel me, you can insult me, but you're not eating in front of me."

"You're that hungry are you? Okay then. Give me your star chips and I'll give you some food," at first Joey responds by drooling but manages to shake himself to sense "Forget it. Potato chips- I mean star chips are priceless."

"Joey, she's joking," Lila remarks as she walks around the group, and the boy looks at her before he glances back to Mai who nods "I'll be more then happy to share if you can manage to ask politely like a gentlemen."

"Right. So then you can go make fun of me for that too?"

"Look. By tomorrow I'll have won entrance into the castle so there's no point in me keeping an entire knapsack full of food."

"It should would be nice not to have to duel tomorrow on an empty stomach," but Joey can't help being suspicious of Mai "How do we know this isn't another trick? Give me just one good reason to trust you." Mai removes her bag and holds it out to the group with a genuine smile "'cause it's either me or that poisonous mushroom."

* * *

"Look at all this stuff," Yugi says as the group looks over the food that Mai has let them pile on the ground "Candy bars-"

"Dibs on the candy bars."

"Potato chips-"

"Dibs on the chips."

"Canned fruit," it doesn't surprise anyone that neither of the boys calls dibs on that item "Soda."

"Dibs on the soda," however their fun is interrupted by Mai taking on a mother like role and telling them "Sorry boys but no dibs on anything yet. At least not until you complete your chores. I want Yugi to go look for some firewood," no arguments there so she turns to the taller boys who are drooling over the food haul "And you two boys can go an fetch us some water." While Tristan agrees, Joey is less then please "If she's not slinging insults, then she's barking orders."

"I'm willing to swallow my pride if it means swallowing some food," Tristan pushes Joey in the direction of the stream Yugi found him by, it's not too far from the clearing and it'll be easy to find their way back from it. Yugi also takes his leave, leaving all the girls alone so Mai turns to Tea and Lila "What your name, Tea is it?" she makes an affirmative noise "Well Tea if you and Lila wanna freshen up a bit, there's a makeshift shower just over there." Mai nods to where the curtain is set up.

"Thanks Mai."

"Hanging out with those boys is no reason to have to smell like them," it may seem like Mai is making another insult but they girls are able to see where she's coming from and quickly hurry over to the shower. They have gym class together so it won't be to much of a hassle for them to save time and use it together, plus a makeshift shower means limited hot water and neither is willing to subject the other to not having any. While the girls are getting ready for the shower, the boys come back from their chores and they can overhear them.

"Joey I don't think we should cook the candy bars."

"Back off I know what I'm doing."

"Look at you go Joey, the only thing missing is a chef's hat," Lila smiles at Mai's attempt at good natured teasing, it's obvious Mai isn't exactly use to being part of group like this but she is trying, even if she isn't sure how to make it clear she means it all in good humour "And a cute apron."

"Jeez alright already."

"Now keep cooking!"

"You tell 'em Mai," Lila responds with a laugh.

"Us gals have got to look our for each other, especially with a bunch of bozos like them around. I don't see why you two even bother hanging out with them."

"That's easy Mai, they're out best friends," Tea says like it's the most obvious thing in the world, and to her it pretty much is but Lila can understand where Mai is coming from. Before they got to know the group, her parents wondered why Lila spent so much time with the boys as oppose to finding more female friends.

"Those goofballs? In my experience, their type is only good for moving furniture or fixing cars."

"Hey Mai," Tea seems like she is going to respond as the two girls stand with their towels around themselves but then they hear a rustling from just outside the curtain and Tea lets out a small shriek, prompting Mai to head inside. And with her no longer there to guard the way. Tristan and Joey's inner creep starts to come out to play, meaning Yugi has to hold them back from trying to get a peek at the girls attempting to shower.

"What's wrong?"

"I heard something moving around right outside," Mai goes to the curtain and peeks out, having a look around but unable to see anything "Well it's gone now." She takes her place back outside and the two brunette quickly shower, being polite and turning to face away from each other to protect their modesty.

They're quick to dry off, redress and join the boy around the campfire where Joey has set up a metal bucket filled with water with some kind of packaged food that Lila doesn't recognise boiling away inside. Though she agree with Tristan's assessment of the smell as she using the towel to dry the ends of her long hair. Whatever Joey is boiling is clearly mean to be desert as he hands out plates of food to everyone who are eager to dig in and enjoy. As they eat, Yugi attempts to make conversation with the provider of their meals "Speaking of stars. I hear you've won a few Mai. How many do you have, eight? Or is it nine? However many, it sure sounds like you're in the zone."

"Don't think you're gonna fool me with your nice guy routine Yugi. It's only a matter of time before you-"

"Can't we just forget about the tournament for one night," Tea pipes up, something Lila is very grateful for, she doesn't want Mai to get all defensive and take off, it's nice having the company and Tristan also seems to be in agreement as he offers an alternative "Let's make fun of Joey instead. That's always fun."

"Okay, just as long as everyone is crystal clear about one little thing, any duellist in my way is going down," there is a round of shocked faces and Mai gets to her feet "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go for a walk." They all then watch as she takes her leave of the group, the wall firmly back up in place. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted, Lila sighs.

* * *

"Man oh man," Joey stretches his arms above his head and yawns loudly "I'm fading fast here."

"Shouldn't we check on Mai?" Lila asks, looking in the direction the older woman left in.

"Good idea."

"She has been gone for a while."

"It's probably some trap," Joey brushes off, still not willing to trust the purple clad blonde. Tea hmms, not as sure as Joey seems to be when a loud rustling in the bushes behind her startles her and makes her let out a small shriek. The boys all instantly jumping to action to see what it is, Joey assumes it's Mai pulling some kind of childish prank "Yep. Betcha she's been waiting there the whole time. Come on out Mai!" But it's not Mai that comes out, it a boy with long white hair that the whole group knows.

"It's Bakura."

"See I told you. I haven't just been seeing things."

"What are you doing way out here Bakura?"

"Same as you guys I guess," the white haired boy says with a shrug.

"You gave us a scare sneaking around those bushes."

"Yeah, for a minute there we actually thought we had something to worry about," Joey chuckles to himself "Pretty silly huh?" Bakura soon joins the group around the camp fire and the conversation quickly turns to a staple of the group, Duel Monsters, with everyone getting their cards out to show each other.

"Joey you've been starting at that card for like an hour," Tristan remarks, looking over to his friend "What's up?"

"I'll tell ya, just don't laugh. Sometimes, when I'm in a duel, I pretend that it's me out there on the field swapping blows with whatever card my opponent has out," he then laughs at himself "Isn't that dumb?" No one seems to think so in fact Bakura goes further by asking "Well if you were, which card would you want to be Joey?"

"Uh... this one," he shows the group his favourite monster "The Flame Swordsman kicks everybody's butt." He stand up and makes a motion like he's wielding the monster's sword.

"Not mine guys. The Cyber Commander."

"You boys and your cards are hilarious," Tea teases with a wide smile, making Yugi look over to her and shrug, saying "I think everyone has a card they can identify with. You should see if you can pick one for yourself Tea."

"Okay," the brunette takes a moment to look through her deck, pausing at a couple before deciding on which one she thinks suits her "I pick this one, the Magician Of Faith."

"What? You gotta be kidding me."

"More like the magician of freaks if you ask me," the boys are looking at Tea's pick with befuddled expressions.

"Shut up!" Tea snaps, not welcoming the boy's teasing of her choice when she let theirs slide.

"Tell me which one you two identify with Yugi, Lila," Bakura says, looking over to the only two who haven't given their favourites yet. The two smile to each other and quickly go through their decks to pull out their own favourites. Yugi goes first "Oh that's easy. Dark Magician hands down." Attentions then turn to Lila who flips her card around to show everyone "It's my Dark Witch, she's been my favourite since I started playing. Never built a deck without her."

"Maybe I'm just outta the loop, but don't you guys think it's a little silly to be comparing ourselves to playing cards?"

"Why? I mean people identify with story book characters all the time how's this any different?" Lila asks with a shrug and Yugi agrees, saying "It's like my grandpa says 'It's not about the playing cards, it's about putting a little bit of your heart into anything that you care about.' So which card do you care about most Bakura?"

"This on is my favourite," unlike the rest of the group who picked monsters, Bakura holds up a spell card.

"Isn't that the Change Of Heart card?"

"Kind of a weird looking picture don't you think?"

"If you wanna see how it works, we could have a duel right now. Not for star chips, just for a little fun."

"Sure, I'm down with that. After all this star chip stuff, it'll be nice to have a duel with no strings attached," Yugi voices his agreement while Lila just nods with a smile, yeah, a duel for fun sounds like a great idea.

"Why don't you guys each put your favourite cards into Yugi's deck, so it'll be like we're all playing?"

"That's a good idea."

"Great, but I should warn you that with this all star team of cards we'll be tough to beat," the group all hand their card to Yugi who lets Lila do the shuffling while he and Bakura set up their duel mats.

"True, but maybe I'll surprise you."

"This'll be fun."

They set up on a small stump and use a couple of rocks to sit on and Lila hands Yugi his freshly shuffled deck "Alright. I'm all shuffled."

"Now you're sure you don't mind playing alone?" Tea remarks from her place with the rest of the group behind Yugi, the idea being that they can all chip in with what they think Yugi should do so even though they are only using one deck and the final say is up to Yugi himself, it is like it's going to be five on one. With Bakura on his own, Joey decides to chip in "Don't you worry about a thing Bakura. We'll go easy on ya." Bakura offers his thanks while Joey returns to the rest of the group "Now let's get his duel on the road."

"Before we get started, there's a little something I'd like to share with you all. And especially with you Yugi," well this is out of the blue. Everyone looks a little confused and Joey asks what he's going on about, which makes Bakura laugh a little as he responds "You'll see." He holds his hands by his chest and starts humming, making everyone a little unnerved.

"What's he doing?" Tea asks Yugi, whose watching Bakura with large eyes while Lila slides closer to her star haired friend, not liking this one bit while Joey remarks what everyone is basically thinking "This is gettin' freaky." Seemingly out of nowhere, a strange necklace appears on Bakura. It's a triangle surrounded by a ring with sharp looking dangles, in the centre is an eye identical to the one on Yugi's puzzle, which makes Yugi lean forward slightly as he recognises what it is "No! It can't be. A Millennium Item."

"Yes," Lila's head snaps up, Bakura's voice sounds different, like when that other Yugi takes control through the puzzle, his voice his deeper, and doesn't have the same innocence to it that the boy they go to school with has "And the magic of my Millennium Ring will take us to the Shadow Realm." The surrounds trees disappear and Lila looks around startled, it looks like when Yugi duelled against that recording of Pegasus.

"Man, I hate magic."

"Why are you doing this Bakura?"

"You've something I want Yugi, and I aim to take it," the eye on Bakura's ring lights up, and everyone suddenly feels like something is ripped out of them, making them all gasp loudly before they fall down unconscious, hitting the ground hard. Bakura chuckles as he stands up and starts to make his way over to Yugi's faded out, prone from "That wasn't too difficult. Their souls have been locked away. And now, after waiting for countless centuries, the legendary Millennium Puzzle is mine," he reaches out to take it from the boy, but they eye lights up before he can make contact. He watches as Yugi changes, his colour coming back and his eyes opening "No, it can't be!"

"You want my Millennium Puzzle?" the other Yugi asks, standing up, looking around at his friends before fixing his gaze with the white haired boy "Then you're going to have to duel me for it. But if I win, you'll release my friends and send us all back!" Bakura laughs "I agree to your ridiculous terms Yugi. But I promise you, there is more at stake here then you comprehend. And this is one Shadow Game that you cannot win!"

* * *

"Bakura, why have you taken us to the Shadow Realm?" the other Yugi asks as they stand by the stump where their counterparts were all set up to duel. This makes the white haired boy laugh "Bakura? Bakura is no longer here."

"If you're not Bakura then who are you?" the other Yugi growls out, clearly annoyed with whoever this other person is.

"I am a thief and a stealer of souls, and I have done terrible things in my quest to possess the Millennium Items. You do remember the legends don't you?" Yugi's eyes widen "Whosoever wields all seven Millennium Items will possess power unimaginable. And before I'm done with you, your Millennium Puzzle will be mine."

"That's not going to happen," Yugi says, taking hold of his puzzle "Whoever you are."

"Then let the Shadow Game being," Bakura declares, the two kneeling down to their decks "The first move is yours." Yugi draws his first hand and quickly makes his play "And my first card, the Cyber Commander, Tristan's favourite." He plays the relatively weak monster in defence mode. Suddenly a light appears from the card, similar to when they are played on to holographic fields, meaning the monster is going to appear. But it's the monster's appearance that shocks him "Tristan?" Tristan, looks down at the weapon he is holding in shock "Huh? What a weird dream. Where am I? What's going on here?" He turns around and let's out a cry of fright when he sees the, from his perspective, giant Yugi.

"Bakura must have used his Millennium Ring to capture Tristan's soul within his favourite card."

"Who's your little friend Yugi?" Bakura asks with a dark chuckle "He looks pretty tough, but can he deal with this? The White Magical Hat," Bakura's monster looks like someone doing a very bad cosplay of Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon. He's wearing purple suit with a white cape and top hat, wearing a monocle "Attack!" Tristan looks to the man that has suddenly appeared on Bakura's field "Aw man! I must still be dreaming!" Tristan tries to rationalise what's going on as the monster approaches him but it doesn't nothing to defend him from his attack. The monster punches him and Tristan ends up fading in a red light.

"No! Tristan!"

"Aw, looks like that card's been defeated and your poor friend's soul with trapped within it."

"Where is he? What have you done with Tristan?"

"Your friend is gone, on his way to the discard pile, or the graveyard as well call it in Duel Monsters."

"It can't me," Yugi's eyes shake a little "Tristan can't be... gone."

"When you duel in the Shadow Realm," Bakura laughs as he taunts his opponent "The stakes are always higher Yugi. You made a sloppy move and now your friend, he paid for it with his very soul. Now which of your friends will you sacrifice next?" Yugi looks down at his hands as he draws. He may not want to use the cards that his friends are likely to be trapped in but he needs to win. Which makes his next move for him "Joey's favourite card. The Flame Swordsman!" This time it's Joey who appears on the field in his monster's place.

"Hey, what gives? Hey Yugi-" he turns around and has pretty much the same reaction as Tristan to seeing Yugi "What da- You're a giant! Aw man, I finally cracked."

"Joey listen to me," he tries to reason with his friend "Your soul has been sealed inside your favourite card. You've become the Flame Swordsman."

"I'm da who?"

"If I don't win this duel, we can't restore you to normal. But if you're defeated in this battle, you'll be carried off to the card graveyard just like Tristan was," he needs Joey to understand the severity of the situation, unfortunately, all that does is spook his friend even more "Graveyard?" Still Yugi carried on explaining "In order for me to win this duel and restore you all back to your bodies and get us out of the Shadow Realm, I'm going to need your help." And with that, Joey's loyalty kicks in.

"You want my help, you got my help," he smiles.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Okay? I figure I've lost my mind, but I'm gonna go with it," he turns to face his opponent "Now, who wants a beating?" then he cries out in shock again "Giant Bakura? Now I know I'm nuts. I'm like six inches tall, wearing a dress, about to fight my giant friend?"

"That's not really Bakura. An evil spirit from his Millennium Ring has taken him over."

"Well... I have no idea what you're talking about," which Joey figures is really nothing new "So here goes nothing." He screams as he charges forward and like he's been using the sword his entire life, uses it to slice through Bakura's monster, looks like it's not just the monster's appearance they take on but the abilities they would likely have since Joey's never used a sword before in his life "Say goodbye to the cat in the hat. Whoa man," Joey turns back to Yugi "I did it Yugi. Now what?"

"Now it's his turn."

"You're little swordsman got lucky last time Yugi, but not this time," he slaps his card down face down. It strikes Yugi as unusual as he draws his next monster, his eyes instantly falling on a familiar fairy. It's-

"Lila's favourite, Dark Witch!" he summons the light attribute and watches as Lila appears on the field with a gasp as she looks around then notices what she's wearing.

"Ah!" she instantly has her hands on the hem of her short golden dress and tries to pull it down before she looks down and with a bright blush also throws an arm over her cleavage, without thinking, the dark blue angel wings on her back close a little as she tries to hide herself "What's going on? Why am I dressed like this?" She then sees Joey and turns even redder when she catches him staring, great, just what she needed.

"Lila," she turns and sees the other Yugi "We don't have much time to explain this again but all you need to know is right now you are the Dark Witch and I need you to help us win this duel and save our friends!" Swallowing, she nods, standing upright, realising that she has her monster's spear in her hand and that Joey is dressed in the garb of his favourite monster.

"Okay, so what's the situation?" she looks over at Bakura's field but is able to reign in her shock a little better then Joey did at seeing Bakura, she instead chooses to focus on the field "Hey, why'd he play that card face down?" she tilts her head to the side and blinks, trying to think of a possible reason.

"'Cause he's afraid of what Joey the swordsman'll do to it," Joey brags, tightening his grip on his sword.

"Hang on Joey it could be a trap," the big Yugi warns, Lila nodding in agreement but unfortunately it does nothing to dissuade their hot-headed friend "I'm going in!" And Joey takes off running, ignoring both his friends as they call for him to wait. The card flips up and Lila's heart drops to her stomach, she knows what that card is, and man is she glad to have been played before it could be flipped face up. Joey just cheers as he destroys the creepy looking thing.

"What a dolt."

"It was a Morphing Jar."

"Huh? A Morphing Jar? Did I screw up?" Lila walks over to her warrior friend and places a hand on his shoulder, explaining "When a Morphing Jar gets flipped face up, like from an attack, both players have to send all cards in their hands to the graveyard and draw five new ones." The other nods.

"We're lucky I played Lila this turn," she throws him a thankful smile, though he looks at his cards in concern before he closes them together and puts them in the graveyard pile. Joey bows down low as he offers his apologies, realising that if he'd been even a little quicker to attack, before Yugi could make his move, then the friend next to him would have been destroyed without a chance to even defend herself. Both players draw their new hands and the other Yugi gasps a little mentally as he catches sight of his Dark Magician. Could Yugi's soul be trapped inside it? He also sees a couple of spell cards he should use as soon as he gets the chance.

"With a new hand, comes a whole new perspective," he plays another card in face down defence "The game, ever shifting, new dangers surround every turn." He also plays a face down in his spell and trap card zone, that's not good. That could be anything. But he has no other real option.

"The Dark Magician," Lila and Joey watch as the smaller Yugi, clad in the robes of his favourite monster, appears, the girl i unable to help the small mental coo, he looks adorable "And I'm playing three magic cards, one to give me a life point boost, Red Medicine," that card came from Tea's deck since they all ended up putting more then their favourite monsters in to make the deck more different "A card to increase my Dark Witch's power, the Silver Bow And Arrow," Lila's spear glows and changes into a silvery bow, along with a quiver appearing on her back "And a card that let's me revive monsters from the graveyard. Reborn The Monster!" Where the spell card is placed, Tristan appears back on the field dressed as the Cyber Commander. Tristan looks around and sees his friends on the field.

"Joey? Yugi? Lila? You three dreaming this too?"

"Nah, this ain't no dream Tristan, this is just me going insane. It's all one big delusion." Lila rolls her eyes. It's not a dream or a delusion, it's magic and while she might love to read about it in her books, right now, it's certainly not something she'd enjoying. Though, she looks to her wings and feels the muscles in her back causing them to twitch a little, she does admit she is curious about if she can actually use them.

"But just one second ago, I was up there," Yugi says, drawing Lila back to the conversation and away from her new appendages, making her look up at the other Yugi's hand.

"Yeah, if you're down here, then whose that up there?"

"I don't know."

"Don't you?" the two different Yugi's lock eyes, causing something to stir in the smaller boy as he realises "Well I have noticed that sometimes when I duel, it feels as if someone is guiding me," the bigger Yugi nods with a smile, well it looks like the cat's out of the bag, or the spirit's out of the puzzle in this case "And sometimes it's like I can hear a strong voice calling out to me from the Millennium Puzzle, an ancient powerful voice."

"Really?" Tristan asks as the group all move to stand a little closer together, Yugi saying "I'm not sure what it's all about guys, but I'm pretty sure we can trust him. Whoever he is."

"I second that," Lila says with a hand on her friend's shoulder, causing the little Dark Magician to look up her as she smiles to the other him. Joey brushes it all off easily "Hey, if the big guy is okay in your books, then he's okay by me."

"Yeah."

"So what do we do know?" Lila asks, looking to the boys.

"Maybe we should try and find Tea?" Tristan suggests, the two shorter of the two catching on quickly and looking towards the card pile "She must still be in the deck."

"Then we should try and win this thing before her card gets played."

"Good idea," Yugi and Lila nods, it wouldn't be a good idea for Tea to get involved with this duel, it'd freak her out something fierce.

"I'm gonna bash me some Bakura."

"Hang on Joey," Lila frowns, making the boys all look to her "I was played last term and I haven't had a chance to move. Plus, I wanna try out this baby," she shows the shimmering weapon to the boys, then looks to the big Yugi for permission, who nods. Her wings flutter and like when her Dark Witch attacks herself, Lila's wings lift her up and let her line up her shot from the sky.

"Silver lightning arrow!" the arrow glows at it's fired from her bow and when the card flips it, it pierces through the monster but her flapping wings falter for a second as she tries to land as she realises what she just attack "No! Not another one!" When she lands, her legs fail her and she ends up on the floor with her legs bent to the side, her bow held in her lap as she looks down. Bakura just laughs "We'll have to send all the card in our hands to the graveyard again." Lila looks up to the other Yugi "I'm sorry, I thought me attacking would be better then Joey."

"It's okay Lila, remember, I did the same thing," Joey offers the girl a hand to pull her up and tries to give her a comforting smile while they watch the other Yugi draw his five new cards. However then he says what they were all dreading to hear "No, the Magician Of Faith!"

"Hmm, isn't that Tea's favourite card?" Bakura taunts, making Lila growls and turn her glare on him, wanting to fire one of her arrows at him, but knowing it wouldn't do anything because of the stupid no direct attack rules "Do you suppose that her mortal soul is trapped within it? Hmm, I wonder? Maybe you should play it and find out. But then again," he places yet another card in face down defence, he's got to be stalling for some reason "You don't know what I'm laying here, so you might be putting her in danger. A dilemma, and while you decide, I'll just activate this trap card."

"No!"

"Just Desserts," a ghostly hand reaches out of Bakura's card and grabs the other Yugi's face, squeezing as his life points drop to five hundred, luckily he upped his life points last turn otherwise that would have been the end "I think you'll find it will help you come to grips with your present situation. Just Desserts takes five hundred life points for each of your monsters on the field, and you'll feel like each and every point has been ripped from your beating heart." The other Yugi grips his chest in pain as he hunches over, Lila running over to place her hands on his as she looks up in concern, asking "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he voice cracks from the pain "But one more attack like that, and it's over." She nods in understanding, yeah, it's a nasty trap but she can't imagine the pain a Shadow Game makes it inflict since it seems like here, all the attacks are real.

"That trap card just nailed Yugi's life points, or maybe I should say, our life points," Tristan remarks while Joey gulps and the other Yugi pushes himself up, his muscles still shaking from the pain, looking down at his hand and the face down on the field. That face down, for all he knows could be a third Morphing Jar, it's unlikely, but then so was having the face down Lila destroyed being one. As it stands, having one of his friends in his hand just isn't safe, which makes the field the best place to have her. He takes the card and plays it face down, maybe she'll be safer that way, especially with the others there to protect her. There is the summoning shimmers underneath the card and it is pushed up by Tea, crouched underneath it like she is crawling out of a tent.

"Hey! What's up?" she calls cheerfully upon seeing her four friends, the boys instantly rushing to hide her from view with their bodies "Uh guys-?"

"Stay quiet!"

"It's a little early for Halloween don't you think? What the-" she finally notices the magician's staff she has appeared holding onto "What's this?"

"Shush," Joey whispers, trying to get her to keep her mouth shut so she doesn't draw attention to herself, being the weakest monster on the field "Bakura and Yugi are big duelling giants and are fighting for our souls." Tea looks over to the spell caster and says with a confused expression "But Yugi's right here." Lila ducks behind the boys and glares at the other brunette girl with a finger to her lips, seriously of all the times to not know when to keep quiet.

"Yeah well, the big guy's not really me, but he's not really not me," Yugi blathers, not really knowing how to explain this to her and just making her more confused. Lila sighs and shakes her head, deciding to give a got at explaining what's going on "Look the Millennium Items the two of them have some weird kind of magic mumbo jumbo that means spirits of some kind can take them over. That's what big Yugi is, he's the spirit of the puzzle, he just looks like Yugi 'cause he's using his body." Little Yugi nods, it sounding about as plausible as any other explanation at the moment.

"Magic? So I'm not crazy?"

"Not unless we're all going crazy," Yugi offers, looking a mixture of sheepish and embarrassed, to which Lila shrugs "Jury's still out on that one."

"Just think of it this way Tea. There's two Yugi's the cool one up there, and the puny one down here," Yugi falls to the side while Lila face palms, though her upper arm length gloves negate the sound it usually makes. Really Joey? That's your explanation.

"That's not how it works at all!" Yugi yells, cheeks going red from a mixture of anger and embarrassment. Joey waves in hands defensively in front of him, leaning back into Tristan, away from the tiny, angry magician "Just a joke, relax."

"You forget that here I have the powers of the Dark Magician," Yugi walks over to the joining of the two duel mats, ignoring Tristan calling after him, too angry and embarrassed to be cautious "I'll show you who's puny around here," he points his staff at the face down monster and a chubby purple lizard appears with a squeak and the big Yugi tries to tell him to wait, but it falls on death ears "Dark magic attack!" The world turns into a negative for the monsters and the little lizard is destroyed, causing the others to cheer for Yugi, who looks proud of himself, his chest puffing out a little before a jolt runs through his body and he falls down, shaking as what feels like an electric current runs through him, making Lila push through the boys to kneel down at his side.

"Are you okay?" the boys come after her, Tristan asking "What was that?"

"Whatever is was, it's making me go numb."

"Hang in there pal," Lila places a hand over his that is resting on his shoulder as Joey speaks, trying to rub the tingling from his fingers. It helps a little but not much and he still stays there, shaking as the other him shouts out to him and Bakura laughs.

"You can't attack the electric lizard without some rather shocking feedback. A lesson your little Yugi won't soon forget."

"Okay," Lila says to everyone, daring their attention to her "From now on, I attack. With my bow and arrow equip card, I'm the next strongest after Yugi, which means I have the best chance at destroying anything," there is a small chorus of disagreement from the boys, even Yugi tries to shoot her idea down, but with the pain he's in, he can't offer much an argument. While she does have a point, none of them want to risk any of the others. The big Yugi looks down at his hand and says "Alright soul stealer, I'll play my next card face down. And it's your move." The two boys try to hide Tea by pushing her card down but it doesn't work.

"Don't bother you fools I can see her perfectly well. Now I have all five of you right where I want you," he looks over the group, the fairy crouched by the shaking magician while the other girl has a clueless look on her face with the two taller boys trying to protect her, pathetic "Helpless on the field, easy prey for my Man-Eater Bug!"

"Man-Eater Bug? Glad I'm a girl," Tea comments as the boys finally give up and let her stand up from under the card.

"Yugi, what's that card do?"

"I can answer," Lila says, rubbing the boy's arms to try and help him get some feeling back into them "When it's flipped up it automatically destroys on card on the field." Tea gasps and looks to the two boys "Well that's certainly not good."

"Guys," Tristan rubs his arm and gets a creeped out look on his face "I really don't wanna go back to the graveyard."

"Don't you worry Tristan, none of us are going back! We'll destroy that bug before he plays it."

"Doesn't work like that," Lila shakes her head, making Joey look over to her "Like with the Morphing Jars, as soon as you declare an attack on it, it flips up, setting off it's power."

"Graveyard, here I come," Tristan says, already resigning himself to what he believes is his fate, though Lila doesn't point out that most of the time, it's the strongest monsters that people destroy with the Man-Eater Bug, making it more likely that it'll be Yugi or maybe even her that end up in the graveyard.

"What is she saying Yuge?" Joey shots at the hunched over boy, going over the brunette girl's head "That one of us is gonna end up worm food?"

"She's saying that there's only one way out of this, and we're standing on it," they all look to their spell and trap zone as Tristan notices "Right. The trap card big Yugi laid down."

"Yeah, but I'm afraid to use it," Lila frowns, so even with Yugi here, he's still connected to the other him on some level "The card requires that we sacrifice a creature."

"You mean, one of us?" Tea asks, horrified, while Lila looks over to the other Yugi and asks "No other monsters in the hand huh?" He shakes his head, well there goes that idea. Looks like it really is one of the gang on the field.

"Don't worry Tea, I'll go," Tristan volunteers, looking at Bakura's monster as it peeks up a little from the card, it's eyes glowing red as it looks at it's potential prey.

"No way Tristan."

"Think about it, that Man-Eater Bug's gonna take one of us out no matter what we do. At least this way I'm taking it out too-" Joey slams the hilt of his sword into Tristan's gut, winding him and knocking him to the ground "I guess you disagree."

"You just got back from the graveyard, if anyone's going, it's me," Lila grabs him arm and glares, opening her mouth to retort but he cuts her off "You said it yourself Lila, next to Yugi, you've got the highest attack. It can't be either of you because big Yugi's gonna need you if he wants to win this." There is a moment where they stare at each other, bother she nods and lets him run past her, even with Yugi and Tea shouting after him. Besides, Lila looks over to Tea, there's still a chance they can bring him back.

"How tough can this bug be?" Joey stand atop the card and raises his sword to stab down, causing the monster to appear and the two to being to fight, Joey doing his best to hang onto the bug's back as he shouts to the other Yugi "Big Yugi! Use the trap! Do it! Do it now! Please, I don't want my friends to get hurt. Sacrifice me!" The big Yugi looks on the field, for a moment he looks at the others, Lila nods to him while the others are watching Joey and he then follows her gaze to Tea, realising the same thing she did so he nods to Joey, agreeing with his request.

"I'm activating a trap, sacrificing my Flame Swordsman to do so," he flips the face down up "The Horn Of Heaven! Blasting it's celestial tune directly at your Man-Eater Bug! Obliterating it from the field once and for all!" A bright light appears underneath the bug as Lila pulls Yugi back to the rest of group, watching as it engulfs both Bakura's monster and Joey, the blonde shouting "Don't worry about me!" as he disappears.

"He's gone. Just like that. My best buddies gone," seeming to take joy from the sorrow of the group, Bakura laughs "Don't worry, you'll soon be joining him in the graveyard. You can spend an eternity together. I hope you don't harbour any illusions about rescuing your friend Joey from the graveyard. You've already played Reborn The Monster, the only way to get him back. An soon the Reaper Of Cards will claim his soul forever!"

"Poor Joey," Tea says, her voice heartbroken "He sacrificed himself. He can't be gone." The tears well up in her azure eyes and as she blinks, one falls down her cheek and his the ground, which causes her whole body to light up, making everyone turn to look at her, Lila unable to keep the small smile from her face. That girl did it.

"Remember, she's the Magician Of Faith," Lila reminds the boys, going up onto the Dark Magician card with Tea, to place a hand on her shoulder and Yugi realises what just happened "Tea's tear activated the magic effect of her favourite card."

"That's right. And the effect of the Magician Of Faith allows be to bring back one magic card from the discard pile and add it to my hand,"Tea's eyes close as the glow around her brightens and moves, a stream of it going to Yugi's hand and changing into a card "And the card I chose, Reborn The Monster. Which I play now!" Much like with Tristan, Joey appears on the magic card, though he's cowering like something is trying to his him and whimpers a little before he realises he's back on the field. Lila turns to Tea and pulls the girl into a tight hug, surprising her "I knew you could do it. You saved him!" Tea smiles and returns the hug before they going the others in running to Joey, Lila moving to throw her arms around him, making him blush a little as she kisses him on the cheek "That was very brave what you did."

"You waste your time and your turns rescuing these foolish mortals," Bakura scolds, glaring at the other Yugi, irritated with the celebration going on before him.

"My friends are never a waste of time. Make your move," Bakura smirks at that "Oh I'll move, and you will lose. This is the play that will end the match and win me your Millennium Puzzle. First I will play the Lady Of Faith in attack mode," it's a blue haired woman with a strange fabric head dress in blue robes similar to those worn by the mystical elf "And then the card that will turn your friends against one another, the Change Of Heart." He shows the spell card in his hand, one that all those on the field recognise.

"Change Of Heart? Isn't that Bakura's favourite card?"

"And a very magical card it is! With this card I can turn you against your comrades. The very friends you sought to protect, you will now destroy," he is speaking directly to Yugi, making it clear which of them he plans on using the card on.

"No I refuse!"

"You won't have a choice in the matter! The Change Of Heart Card allows me to control any opposing monster, and I choose you little Yugi!" as he speaks, Yugi's mind can't help but conjure up the image of him going after her friends and it makes him sick to his stomach, he can't hurt them, he doesn't have it in him, he knows that but under the control of such a strong magic card, would he really attack them?

"Leave the young one out of this!" the other Yugi growls as Lila moves to step in front of her slightly shorter friend, expending her wings slightly to block him from the white haired duellist's view. While it won't do anything to protect him from the effect of the magic card, she can't stop herself from wanting to try and shield him in some way.

"Why should I? By simply destroying him, I defeat you as well. Your here to guide and protect him? Then protect him against this!" he plays the card and a bright light erupts from it, making Lila and Yugi have to cover their eyes to stop from being blinded by it. Thinking this is the card taking effect, the others all shout Yugi's name. When the light fades they see someone who, much like them, has been trapped inside their favourite card.

"It's Bakura!"

"The real Bakura!"

"Bakura! So your soul was sealed into your favourite card too!" the white haired boy nods and says "I want to help but we must act quickly Yugi!" he runs and ducks into the Lady Of Faith, who gasps before her appearance turns into that of Bakura "I've taken over one of his cards instead of yours." Both Yugi and the evil Bakura make a noise of shock "I'll control her while you attack me. You can win against the evil Bakura."

"I can't! I'd be destroying you, sending you to the graveyard!"

"I don't care, it's better then being enslaved by and evil spirit. Do it!"

"Be quiet!"

"I have a better idea," Lila and the others look over the to big Yugi as his puzzle shakes at his chest, the eye lighting up as a similar eye appears on his forehead "If the evil power of Bakura's Millennium Ring can pull souls from people, then perhaps the power of my Millennium Puzzle can put them back!" Bakura lets out a cry that sounds like he's in pain as his ring shakes around on it's rope, he then gasps and looks around, his wider, more innocent and expressive eyes, showing everyone that it worked.

"Alright! Our Bakura's back where he belongs."

"So where's the spirit of the ring?" Lila asks, looking around before he gaze, along with everyone's falls onto the Lady Of Faith. There he is.

"This can't be!"

"Listen closely Yugi, use the power of the Dark Magician, send him to the graveyard. Now!"

"You got it," Yugi throws his hand forward "Dark magic attack!" and with that, the evil Bakura shatters and with a gasp, the group all passes out again.

* * *

"Are you okay Bakura?" Yugi asks those two being the first to awaken, though Lila hadn't been far behind, while all the others were still sleeping.

"I am know, thanks to you," Lila smiles and looks over her shoulder before she playfully pouts "Couldn't have let me keep the wings or horns huh?" That makes the two boys laugh a little, trust her to have actually enjoyed being turned into a Duel Monster. Then Yugi's gaze falls to the necklace Bakura is wearing, Lila too is interested in it, asking if she can hold it. Bakura happily hands it over as Yugi asks "Where's you get your Millennium Ring?"

"My father picked it up on one of his trips. He told me it's from ancient Egypt, I think that's where they're all from. He was shopping in a merchant bazaar when the Millennium Ring caught his eye. The man who sold the ring to my father said it had something to do with Duel Monsters. But that never made any sense to me since the card game is new and the ring is clearly ancient. When my father got back he gave it to me. He said he felt I was destine to have it."

"Wow, when I use to have to travel with my parents for their work, all I'd bring back was usually sweets for Yugi," the multi colour haired boy nods, remembering all the different treats she would always have with her the short amount of time she was actually in Domino City. While he misses getting to try sweets from all over the world, he has to say, he prefers having Lila around permanently. Lila looks the ring over, running her hand over the triangle "It's pretty. Shame about the evil spirit huh?" Bakura chuckles awkwardly he nods, accepting as she hands the ring back. They then notice the rest of the group is waking up.

"I just dreamt that Bakura went totally mental."

"Same here, last time I snooze with duelling card under my pillow," Lila smiles as she watches Bakura walk over to the boys and with a big smile ask "Sleep well guys?" Leaning forward to get right in their faces.

"Bakura!" they both shout in fright, hugging into each other before their 'manliness' kicks in "Hands off!" "You grabbed me!" they then look to one another and realise just how close together they are and literally throw themselves away from each other with a cry, which makes the rest of the people gathered laugh. Then Tea stops as she really thinks about what she was dreaming about, seems like everyone but the first three to wake up has just written what happened off as a dream "I dreamt we were dressed as Duel Monsters, and there were two Yugis." The two owners of a Millennium Item turns a mixture of sheepish an embarrassed, obviously not sure if they should say anything. However before they get the chance, there is a scream that draws everyone's attention.

"What was that?"

"I don't know," the group all starts running towards the scream "But whatever it is, we'll face it together!"


	12. 12 Light At End & Winning Intimidation

_**As this is the last post before Christmas, I would like to say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Winter Solstice and any other season greetings to my readers. Thank you for reading and I hope you've all enjoyed.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Twelve - The Light At The End Of The Tunnel & Winning Through Intimidation

"That voice," Joey remarks as the group run in the direction the scream came from "It sounded like Mai!" Lila nods, yeah it did, and that's worrying. What could have happened to have made her scream like that? Can't be good. As they run into a clearing, they see an active duel field, but all the monsters are gone and a familiar blonde is being lower from the podium, her head down.

"Mai!" Lila yells as they get closer "Are you okay?" The appearance of the teenagers makes her look up. They keep running closer to the field but in a defeated voice, Mai simply responds with "You're too late." They finally come to a stop and look on at the older blonde with concern, Tea stepping forward to ask "Too late for what Mai?" It's then the group notice the hulking brute with an oversized chin in a dark trench coat looming behind the slender woman, grinning manically.

"This sideshow freak giving you a hard time?" Joey asks, his protective instincts starting to kick in at seeing her looking so down.

"That's right," the man in question responds, clearly proud of himself "Just like Pegasus pays me to do." Lila and Yugi frown, looking to one another in slight confusion. This guy works for Pegasus? He doesn't look like the regular suits they've seen before "Root out all the duelling filth on this island and dispose of it." That drags their attention back and the small girl tries to take a step closer, only to have her wrist gently taken hold of by Yugi, not wanting her to do anything rash considering how much bigger then her this guy actually is.

"Doesn't that make you a garbage man?" Tristan responds, less then impressed with this guy's bad attitude.

"This is no joke!" Mai responds, shooting a swift glare at the boy in the tan coat before he looks to the three actual contestants standing together, her eyes imploring them to leave "Panik's one of the island's eliminators, and if you don't get out of here, he's gonna do to you what he did to me!"

"Eliminator? What's that Mai?" Yugi asks, voicing the confusion of the whole group, it's something they've never heard mentioned on the island before now.

"Look," Panik responds for her, grabbing Mai's wrist under her glove and pulling her arm up, making her gasp and wince a little in pain, either from the forced motion of the brute's grip "This is what she means, right here. Check out her duellist's glove, not a star chip left." Lila's eyes widen as she looks, he's right, the glove's empty.

"But that would mean she's been disqualified," Tea says blandly, not quiet willing to believe it as everyone looks on, eyes wide in shock.

"Mai, you're out?" Lila isn't sure she can believe it. Yeah she lost to Joey but Mai's quick amassing of star chips and how she preformed in the duel against Joey makes it clear that she's a talented duellist. And her glove was still full when she left them, how could she have lost them all in one match. She wouldn't have bet them all when she had so few left to go.

"I am," she says, the defeated tone coming back as she looks down at her feet, embarrassed to be seen after her loss "It all happened so fast. The way Panik duels, I just... lost it." Lila shakes her head as Tea says "This isn't right." No kidding, it really isn't. Panik laughs loudly, setting the long haired brunette's teeth on edge, this guy is just asking for it, the creep.

"She was one of my easiest victims yet," he uses his grip on her wrist to throw her forward, Lila running out to grab her as she cried out in pain, and bring her into the group, wanting to get her away from the oversized freak, Joey glaring up at him as he spits out "You creep!" He steps forward with clenched fists but like Yugi with Lila, Tristan and Bakura move to stop him from getting into a fight he's not likely to win "There's no excuse for pushing a girl!"

"Calm down Joey," Bakura breaths out, struggling a little to restrain the irate blonde "I know how you feel but that guy's more then twice your size."

"I can take him!"

"No Joey, fists aren't the answer," Yugi says as he steps ahead of her group, his head ducked down "Violence won't solve anything. I've dealt with a lot of bullies in my life and I'm afraid there's only one way to deal with them," Joey asks what he means as he moves closer to Panik and looks up, showing the determined gleam in his eyes "You have to stand up to them!" Then his puzzle starts to glow, allowing the spirit within to take control.

"But Yugi-"

"Now, let's see you try your intimidation tactics against me Panik!" he points at the bully "I don't scare easy, especially when I'm standing up for my friends, so let's duel!"

"You twerp," Panik rebuff with a wide grin "I'll eliminate you from the tournament just like I did her!" Mai actually shrinks into herself a bit at Panik's words, making Lila put an arm around her shoulder, glaring at him "Tell him how I trounced you!"

"Please Yugi," Mai says and Lila growls out "Leave her alone Panik!" Yugi nods "If you're looking to bully someone, try bullying me. Play time is now over Panik. It's time to duel!" Accepting Yugi's challenge, Panik returns to the red podium and Yugi sets up on his usual blue. Mai stands close by the group, still looking rather defeated and sorry for herself. Lila places a hand on her arm and tries to offer her a comforting smile. Mai doesn't return it, though her lips to twitch a little to show she tries. She does actually like Lila and she knows the girl is trying to make sure she's okay.

"Alright Yugi, no problem!" Joey yells boisterously as the blue podium's lift raises their friend up "Show Panik here how we deal with dogs like him!"

"Yugi huh," Panik smirks, he had heard Mai calling him that and now one of the boy's friends has just confirmed it "Must be my lucky day. Pegasus has promised a generous bounty to the eliminator who defeats you. I wonder, think he'd throw in some extra cash for inflicting bodily harm. Not that I wouldn't do it for free."

"Then maybe you could use it to buy yourself a voice that doesn't frighten small children!" Lila yells out, making Panik shoot her a glare, not liking being the one who is mocked, especially not by someone so weak looking. After he's taken care of Yugi, he's definitely going to make sure that girl is dealt with too. She's far to mouthy for his liking. The other Yugi actually chuckles a little, both at Lila's comment and the clear annoyance shown by the larger duellist in response to it "You'd better start thinking of other ways to make money Panik, because after I get done with you, not only will you be out some star chips, but you'll be out of a job."

"Whoever said I was an eliminator just for the money Yugi? I've made enough cash to have retired long ago. But I won't quit because there's no better thrill then breaking weak duellists like you. So get ready Yugi, I'm about to take you into a world of hurt!"

"I won't be bullied by the likes of you Panik," Yugi says confidently, arms crossed across his chest as he glares towards his opponent, normally he treats his opponents with respect, even if they themselves don't deserve it, but he has none for this man "I play with my heart, that's why I'll always win against your type."

"You've never faced my type before. When I'm in a match with someone, there's a lot more to it then sheer duelling strategy," Yugi raises an eyebrow at that "Meaning?"

"Panik's ruthless Yugi," Mai shouts "He had me totally terrified!" There's still a slight quiver to her voice, meaning she still hasn't quiet shaken off her duel with him, making Panik laugh "That's right and she's not the first either. We eliminators have built our career on stalking weak players like her and strong arming them into duelling us! You see, when you're as good as I am, you learn to appreciate the hunt as much as the duel itself. And now I'm gonna take you down, just like I did Mai!" While Panik is boasting, Lila turns to the older girl and asks "Just what is an eliminator anyway?"

"Big tournaments like this hire them, they don't actually participate, they're just there to take people out, it's a way to stop too many people getting into the finals," Mai explains, looking down at her glove "Since we only need ten star chips each, and Pegasus invited so many people, if they weren't here, the finals would probably have live ten or more people, too many." Lila nods, right that makes sense, but it doesn't explain why this guy is talking and acting like he's some kind of mercenary.

"I see how you work Panik," Yugi responds, smirking a little to himself "Sneaking up on unsuspecting duellists because you haven't the courage to challenge them face-to-face!" That stops Panik's laughter, much like with Lila, he doesn't respond well to someone acting brave around him "Watch your mouth you insolent cur!"

"True duellist fight with honour and respect, not the underhanded tactics of a poacher," Panik's face scrunches up and he grinds his teeth as he growls to himself "And to prove it," Yugi quickly lifts his hand to show his glove off "I wager all the star chips I have to win back Mai's."

"It's a deal. If you win, I'll give you all eight of her star chips," Panik raises his own to show that his duelling glove it thicker, fitting more then ten in each row and that it is a double row, which itself is nearly full "The bet makes no difference to me."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean, little Yugi," a small compartment comes out from his panel and he presses a button on it "Is that when you duel against Panik," restraints comes out from the sides of Yugi's podium and snap closed around his ankles, startling him slightly as he looks down at them "You're putting much more then just your measly star chips on the line," two small protrusions come out from either side of the main body of the podium "Much more!" Panik's laughter booms loudly as they start to shoot flames up at Yugi, making Lila and the rest of the gang gasp, no way. That's demented!

"Yugi!"

"We gotta get him outta there!"

"What's the matter Yugi?" Panik taunts "Can't take the heat? Well get used to it, because you're strapped in for the long haul."

"Turn it off Panik!" Joey demands, but his shout is ignored "Panik used those on me too," Mai remarks, looks up at the flames with wide, shaking eyes, making the other's glance at her in concern, that's completely nuts "Stay strong Yugi," Bakura says softly, staring up the boy struggling to keep an arm up to hopefully give him some protection from the fire's heat. Eventually though, the flames do stop, though only so Panik can gloat some more "I can see the fear growing in your eyes Yugi. I can hear you quaking in your boots. You're beginning to realise the nightmare you stepped into! I do believe you are beginning to panic!" _Something tells me Panik is more of a self given nickname then what he's actually called, _Lila's mind supplies unhelpfully while the man in question laughs and Tea yells "Get a life you psycho!"

"Forget this guy Yuge. This wasn't part of the job description," Joey yells and he's right. Yugi never agreed to be locked in and have flames fired at him when he challenged Panik to this duel, so there's no way he could be punished for backing down, the first cards haven't even been drawn let alone played, so it's not like he'd be surrendering.

"Yeah, no joke. Come on, let's get you down from their Yugi. What do you say?"

"Are you finished blowing smoke Panik?" Yugi remarks, seemingly paying his friend's concerns no mind as he smirks at his opponent. There is a chorus of gasps from the group watching with Joey wondering out loud just what Yugi is up to "It will take much more then cheap pyrotechnics to make me lose my cool." Despite Yugi's clear confidence in himself, Panik still laughs, no doubt this is just some act Yugi is putting on to look brave in front of his friends, he knows that it won't last long "The last time someone had the nerve to talk to me like that, I broke them in half! Now let's duel!" And the game begins, both players draw their first hands while the spectators watch on. Mai thinks over Yugi's situation, her hand tightening around Lila's, making the teenager look at her out of the corner of her eye _Mai's just as stressed and nervous as if she was the one duelling. Yugi, I hope you know what your doing._

"Seeing how the blaze of my fire didn't phase you, let's turn down the light," Panik takes his first card and plays it on the field "My Castle Of Dark Illusions will turn this duel into your darkest hour Yugi, it's magic shrouds the field with a veil of shadows," the castle in question is a mustard yellow colour and definitely looks like it has seen better days as it floats on the field, an aura of black spreading from it to cover Panik's half of the field "And the castle itself is extra fortified, thanks to the field power bonus I get for playing it at night!"

"I'm not afraid of the dark Panik!"

"You would be if you only knew the fearsome nightmares within it's shade! The blanket of shadows," which is steadily getting darker until Yugi, and indeed those watching, are even unable to see Panik, let alone any cards he might play "Cast over my entire side of the field make it impossible for you to see the creatures I summon, but leaves your entire side exposed! And vulnerable to my attacks. Unnerving isn't it Yugi, how the darkness preys on your fears, on your mind until you're too scared to think, too terrified to fight!" Panik laughs sinisterly as his castle floats ominously in front of Yugi before it too starts to get surrounded in it's own shadows.

"Don't listen you!" Mai shouts, moving forward slightly "This is exactly how he threw me off my game!"

"Now ya tell us?" Lila kicks Joey in the back of the leg for that, making him wince while she throws him a dirty look. So he doesn't like Mai, no need to be so rude to her.

"And if you think you can storm my castle with the help of a field power bonus of your own, think again. Because just as my shadows block the light from above, they've blocked the field power from the ground below. Only the night grants bonuses here." Yugi frowns as he tries to peer into the darkness, with no luck. Since he isn't going to be able to see what he's up against, he decides it's best to play it safe for the moment as he picks a monster to play "Celtic Guardian. Defence mode!" The blonde, green armour clad elf appears with his hand at his sword, like he's ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

"Not a very bright idea," there is the sound of a card being played, the interactive field chirping but the darkness stops anyone from being able to see what it is, all they can see is a large pair of glowing red eyes as Panik laughs "Attack. Dark grasp of fury!" There is a growl as the shadows rush forward and engulf Yugi's monster around the waist. Even on Yugi's field the monster is shrouded, unable to be seen as there is a crunching kind of sound, then the Celtic Guardian is destroyed and Panik's monster returns to his shadows "Our first victim of the night."

"That's cheap. How do you defend against what you can't see?"

"Yeah, or defeat a monster you can't find?"

"Anybody got a flash light?" Lila sighs and shakes her head, the boys mean well but their comments really aren't helping the situation any.

"Even your friends have lost hope for you," Yugi draws and looks at his hand. He needs to get the monsters out from the darkness but he knows there isn't anything he can use to destroy the castle, not with it's defence boosted by it's own ability. At least, nothing he can get out easily "Play any monster card you like. The creatures within my veil of shadows will consume them all!"

"Winged Dragon And Guardian Of The Fortress in defence mode," it's Yugi's familiar blue dragon.

"This defensive manoeuvring may keep your life points safe from one monster Yugi, but not two," there's that mechanical sounding chirp signifying Panik playing another card, the eyes that appear in the darkness this time are narrower and an eerie shade of pale blue. Yugi grits his teeth as he looks at the field. Panik isn't wrong, you can't win a duel only defending "You're terrified aren't you Yugi? Admit it! All your courage has been devoured by my shadowy fog! Yes. All that's left is a trembling little duellist, powerless to defend himself."

"So how's Yugi suppose to take this guy out Mai?"

"If I was able to figure that out, we wouldn't be in this situation."

As Yugi looks at the shadows, he suddenly gets an idea "Guardian of the fortress, take flight!" The dragon roars as it lifts into the air "Fireball attack!" The flames blast forward, hitting the ground at the feet of Panik's monster and they both let out a cry, the sudden light seeming to shock them. Lila's eyes narrow as she quickly looks at them and recognises them, shouting up "Yugi, it's a Barox and a Dark Chimera!" The spirit nods, watching the shadows return to cover them. That's good, now he has an idea on what it is he's up against, not that it has put Panik off at all.

"So you saw my creatures. But I doubt it gives you the foresight to see what's coming next. Dark grasp of fury," one of panic's monsters, from the eye colour, Lila guesses it's probably Barox, rushes forward and much like with Yugi's first monster, engulf and destroys his dragon "Lights out for your guardian of the fortress." And because Yugi had to switch it to attack mode to have it attack the darkness, he loses some life points, dropping him to sixteen hundred and six. Those monsters have some pretty unusual attack values is Lila remembers her lessons with Mr Muto "My creatures hungrily eye your remaining life points Yugi and I'll see to it that they feed again quiet soon. Has it sunk in yet whimp? Standing up to a bully leaves you nowhere to go but down!" Yugi doesn't want Panik to know he is a little unnerved by this duel, it isn't like any he's had to deal with before, he's lost too monster along with a chunk of life points and only now actually knows the monster he's dealing with, still he isn't going to let that throw him off his game "The night has eyes Yugi. And all of them are on you! Keep struggling Yugi! Bullying's so much more fun when you resist!"

"Tough talk Panik, coming from someone who makes all their attacks while hiding in the safety of shadows!" Panik chuckles a little and presses his button, making the flames burst from the sides of the podium, Tea warning Yugi to look out as he has to lean out of the way to avoid getting singed.

"You okay pal?"

"You uppity little cretin! Perhaps you should think twice before you insult someone who can scorch you with the touch of a button, huh? You're afraid Yugi! You're lost and alone in the dark, and I'm the big bad boogeyman, about to leap out and give you the scare of your life!"

"Doesn't this guy ever stop yapping?" Lila snaps while Yugi chuckles, not at all intimidated by Panik's attempts at taunting, and Yugi's lack of fear actually puts Panik off a little "If you could see what I have in store for you, you wouldn't be laughing!"

"But that's why I'm laughing. Because I can see... right through you."

"What? What are you talking about? You little runt!" there's an edge to Panik's voice, like he's the one that's becoming nervous, guess he isn't use to duelling people who don't give into his scare tactics.

"You are the bogeyman Panik, scaring children into being afraid of the dark. Until they realise the dark is nothing to be afraid of... like you," Panik's eyes widen and he makes a strained noise of fear "Once a person conjures up the confidence not to be fearful of the unknown, they've disarmed the only weapon the dark has."

"You wish it was that simple you-"

"But it is that simple! I have the card to prove it!"

"What card!" Yugi lifts a card from his hand "A card that'll expose you and lift up that veil of shadows you cower behind."

"What's that?" though Yugi can't see Panik behind his shadows, he knows he's panicking.

"It's just a little something that'll teach you a tough lesson in broad daylight," Yugi changes his hold on his card, face down, like he's going to place it on the field.

"Hey Mai, Lila," the other two look at Tea "Why would Yugi tell Panik his strategy?" Lila shrugs but Mai seems to think she knows, and it isn't favourable for Yugi "It's Panik. Same thing happened to me. You start making amateur mistakes."

"I don't know Mai," Bakura remarks from where he's been watching "He doesn't look like he's panicking." Lila nods in agreement, yeah, in fact he's full on smiling. Like he knows every move Panik is going to make and knows it's actually going to help him win. Panik laughs, a little more shakily then normal as he tries to brush off his fear "You almost had me there. But we both know that card's nothing but a big fat bluff! Prove me wrong Yugi. Go ahead. Let's see you give me my tough lesson!" However Yugi just laughs himself "Why should I show you my card after you've gone to such lengths to keep _yours _in the dark?"

"I think your stalling."

"You don't trust me Panik? Believe it or not, not all duellists are lying dogs like you," that has Panik grinding his teeth and growling again, he really is a typical bully, able to dish out the taunts, threats and insults but hating to have them returned "And to prove it, I'll show you. After all, I wouldn't want you thinking I was some kind of liar."

"Show me!"

"You don't need to prove anything to that slime Yugi!"

"Ready Panik? Here it is," he flips the card around the reveal a magic card "The Swords Of Revealing Light!"

"Huh? Revealing light?"

"The blinding light of The Swords Of Revealing Light not only stops all enemy monsters from attacking for three full turns, but it baths the entire field in a light so luminous that even your lurking shadow creatures will be exposed! Soon Panik, the monsters in your dark empire will have nowhere to hide. But rather then play it now, I'll take a page from your book and let you worry about when and how I'll use it, just like you do with the monsters you hide in the dark. You're going down in five turns. Five turns Panik!" He adds the card back into his hand and moves the cards he is holding around before he plays his next card "Then my monsters will finish you off! Curse Of Dragon! Defensive mode! And of course, the card that will help you see the light." He also plays a face down behind his skeleton dragon, his wording making it clear that it's the spell card he's been talking about, or at least, he wants Panik to think it is "Your five turns start now Panik. It's your move." Now it's Panik's turn to look at the field and stress over the card played that he doesn't know and it's Yugi's turn to mock "What's the matter Panik? Has bullying lost it's thrill?"

"I'll teach you about loss, just you wait!"

"Hey Lila, why is Yugi keeping that card out if he not going to play it yet?" Tea decides to ask the other brunette, she's duelled Yugi a load of times before, sure they were for fun with the biggest stakes being the loser buys the winner a milkshake, but she's gotta have some idea to their friend's plan. Lila is quiet for a minutes, which Mai uses as a chance to speak up nervously "I hate to say it guys, but it's not a good sign," that makes the group turn to her "I was able to keep it together for about this long too, but after a while, Panik has a way of getting to you and making you slip up."

"Not Yugi," Lila smiles, turning the attention back to her "He's just toying with him, like he said, take a page out of Panik's book. Keep him on edge. He knows what he's doing."

"I sure hope so," now the group turns to look over to Bakura while Tristan defensively says "He does."

"Listen, I know Yugi's good, but fighting Panik isn't about being good. It's about keeping a level head while you're lost in the dark or being attacked by fire. Yugi's going to need guts to win this duel, not skill."

"Guts huh? Well he's got heart."

"You got that right."

"Yes but he did just leave his best card out fully vulnerable. You don't make those kind of mistakes unless you're nervous. And Panik's not one to let a mistake like that go unpunished."

"Who says it's a mistake?" they all look at Lila with a slight frown "We all know Yugi, we need to trust that he knows what he's doing."

"Make your move Panik," Yugi taunts as his opponent draws. Panik looks at the card he's just drawn and laughs "I must say it was quiet a daring move to illuminate me with the presence of that card little Yugi. But it was a critical mistake to leave it on the field completely exposed! If you thought idle cards were safe from attacks, you were dead wrong! Reaper Of The Cards!" A ghostly, grim reaper looking monster appears, a belt of cards slung over it's shoulder and a fearsome looking scythe in it's hands. Joey swallows nervously, thinking back on that nightmare where he was in the graveyard and saw one before.

"The reaper?"

"When the reaper is summoned all magic cards hear the ghostly toll of doom! He'll be sending your revealing light card to discard graveyard, leaving you defenceless! Reaper attack!" The ghost floats towards Yugi's face down, raising it's weapon to slash down on it.

"But that card was Yugi's only chance!" as the group watch the moaning ghost swipe down to attack the face down, Tea scrunches up her face and ducks her head, not wanting to watch Yugi's life line get destroyed "Your fate belongs to me now Yugi. Call of the graveyard!" The reaper brings it's scythe down but those watching all let out a gasp of shock as the pointed tip stops just above the glowing card, unable to finish it's attack and wiping the smile off Panik's face "Huh? What's going on?" On Panik's screen there is a flashing warning sign "It can't finish it's attack." Tea finally opens her eyes, not sure what she's missed when Yugi starts chuckling "It should have destroyed your card, The Swords Of Revealing Light!"

"I said my Swords Of Revealing Light is the card the would illuminate your monsters. I never said it was the one I placed on the field," Lila throws a smirk over her shoulder at Mai, her entire expression saying 'told ya so' "You just assumed that."

"But if that's not-"

"The card I placed on the field was a different card. The Spell Binding Circle, a trap card."

"A trap card!"

"Yes, a trap card that snares your reaper, stopping him dead in his tracks. Encircling him in a magical prison," the glowing symbol raises and surrounds Panik's monster, sparks of blue electricity sparking as the monster twitches around "In Duel Monsters, one must be weary of the Reaper Of The Cards and it's ability to send magic cards to the discard pile. I figured that you probably had one stalking around in your deck somewhere. But now that he's frozen, unable to damage my deck, I'm free to lay whatever magic cards I want on the field," there is a round of cheers from his watching friends while Mai stares stunned "What is it with this kid? I can't even keep up with him here on the sidelines."

"He's doing good. But it's not over yet."

"How dare you! You fooled me!" Yugi takes Panik's yells with a smug, self satisfied grin that makes Lila snicker a little into her hand "You fooled yourself Panik, and wasted quiet a powerful card too. But now that the coast is clear, I'll really lay my Swords Of Revealing Light! And a second magic card, both face down."

"Face down? Why?"

"Now what's up?"

"I don't know, but I bet we're going to find out soon enough."

"So what, you captured my reaper but he's only one of my powerful monsters. The ones that remain will destroy you!"

"Whoa smooth move! Yugi caught one of Panik's most powerful monsters and now he's got two magic cards on the table to boot!"

"Getting nervous Panik? I may have yet to launch an effective attack against you and your night creatures but that will all change very soon," Yugi certainly sounds sure of that, he's definitely got a plan up his sleeve and those watching can't wait to see what it is.

"Ridiculous. What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. I made you a promise that in five turns I would teach you a lesson that you would never forget, and I intend to make good. You only have four turns left Panik," Yugi holds up his hand with his fingers spread and thumb tucked away, showing that he's keeping count "Four more turns before I drag you from your shadows and show you up for the bully that you truly are."

"You dolt! Have you forgotten whom you face here?" he slams his fist onto the button for the flame throws "I am Panik the eliminator!" However, this time Yugi's smirk doesn't even drop and he doesn't even try to flinch out of the way as the flames raise up on either side of him "Is that suppose to scare me? Or are you running scared?" Yugi's lack of fear is actually starting to get to Panik, his eye twitching as he looks at the teenager across from him, illuminated dramatically by the flames.

"Yugi's playing with fire," the concern is loud in Tea's voice as she watches, a hand clenched at her heart "I sure hope he knows what he's doing."

"Yeah. This Panik nut-job is playing for keeps."

"Oh yeah. Panik enjoys breaking people down, making them sweat, watching them squirm," Mai's getting more worked up the more she talks, so Lila places a hand on her shoulder in a show of support "For him, duelling's just an excuse to practice his cruelty."

"You can't stall forever. Sooner of later you'll have to make your move."

"Silence!" Panik commands with a shaky voice as he reaches for his draw, his movements jerky with his unease, he then looks at his card and his eyes narrow as his lips quirk with a smile, then he bursts out yet again into laughter "This beast will win the entire match for me, King Of Yamimakai! But don't take my word for it," the monster is brown and hulking like his owner, he has some spindly extremities from his back that can't in any fairness be called wings and his spiked green head is eyeless, though it does have a fearsome mouth full of teeth. However is is quickly shrouded like the rest of Panik's monsters "Powered up with the field power bonus that all my monsters get from the night, my King Of Yamimakai is far more powerful then your pitiful creature. King Of Yamimakai, destroy his Cure Of Dragon! Electro-shock attack!" Black electricity sparks in the monster's talons, crackling. So distracted by calling out his attack, Panic misses the way Yugi's small grin expands and his eyes light up slightly. The beast fires a black orb towards Yugi's field but it doesn't head for his defensive dragon "What? It's veering away! Instead of destroying Yugi's Curse Of Dragon... it's attacking my Reaper Of The Cards!" Panik's face is shocked as he watches the ball of energy blast into the ensnared monster, sparking all around it before turning the cowl wearing creature into pixels.

"Your Reaper Of The Cards is vanquished!"

"Alright!"

"Panik messed up!" the spectators exclaim. So that's what Yugi was planning "Great move Yugi!" Lila calls, unable to stay out of the shouted praised aimed at their friend.

"No! My life points!" Panik exclaims as the counter at the side of his podium drops down to four hundred and ninety four, clearly all the cards in this guy's deck have odd attacks, meaning the life points are all going to end up at unusual numbers instead of the usual fifty or hundred "Cure you and your Spellbinding Circle! It's light drew in my energy blast and destroyed my precious monster!"

"They don't do well," Yugi shrugs in a blase manner "When they dare step out of the darkness. Now let's bring all your monsters into the light. I dispel all your darkness with The Swords Of Revealing Light!" A beam of blinding golden light, similar to the kind that comes from the puzzle, bursts from the four corners of the field and meet high about all the monsters in the middle, making those watching have to put an arm up to prevent the light from hurting their eyes. It pushes the darkness around Panik's monsters away "Stop! Stop it! I can't stand the light!" The light then separates into individual balls which then turn into glowing cross like swords surrounding all of Panik's monsters "Your monsters are revealed!"

"Ha! No one keeps Yugi in the dark!" there is a click sound as on Yugi's podium, the screen that shows the opponent's field finally clicks into life, showing all the monsters Panik has out in play.

"No more hiding Panik. Your darkness will shield you no longer," he holds up three fingers "Three turns left and then you're finished. I didn't use the swords just to illuminate your monsters. It also causes all your monsters on the field to be frozen for three turns. Starting right now. That means, you can't make any attack while I implement my strategy." Panik's entire face twitches, showing his discomfort as he tries to assess his situation, to him, it's unclear why Yugi is so confident since he still has more, and stronger monsters out "You're stalling Panik. Afraid to draw your next card?" Panik draws, mentally comparing Yugi to his other opponents, how this time, his opponent is having an easier time keeping it together and thinking on how much better is will feel to beat someone who is actually fighting back. He looks at the card he's drawn, perfect.

"Yugi, you can forget your foolish delusion if defeating my in just three turns. I've drawn a Chaos Shield card."

"Oh no! That effects all the monsters on the field, it switches them all into defence mode and raises their defence points!"

"You're thinking too small, you fool," Panik mocks as he plays his spell "Or don't you realise that I can combine my Chaos Shield with my Castle Of Dark Illusions."

"This is bad," Lila nods in agreement of Mai's assessment, dammit, how's Yugi suppose to win this if at every turn Panik comes up with some new way to give his monsters something new to hide behind?

"With this combination I can project a defensive shield over my entire area," Panik spreads his arms wide as a thin looking, glowing force field appears over his entire side of the field.

"Now Yugi can't get anywhere near his monster."

"What's that mean?"

"Panik's untouchable while Yugi's a sitting duck!" the entire group of spectator's has shocked expressions on their face. Yugi's just managed to deal a huge blow to his opponent's life points and remove the thing stopping him from being able to launch an attack, and now he's pretty much back in the same position he was in in the first place.

"As long as the Chaos Shield is in place, your monsters can't touch me. Do you still think you can defeat me in three turns, you impudent shrimp?" _wow, this guy really likes throwing out the height based insults doesn't he?_ "Admit defeat now. You can see how the shield raises the defence points of my monsters." Despite not saying anything, Yugi can't deny the numbers and nothing he has is strong enough to take out the monster's on Panik's field in a head on assault. His lack of a whitty retort has Panik laughing again, thinking he's got Yugi running scared.

"I hate to say it, but Yugi really doesn't stand a chance. Breaking duellists is what Panik does for a living. Panik is brutal, ruthless, everything the ultimate duellist needs to be."

"You sure are a pessimist huh?" Lila asks with a small, sad smile "And you really don't understand our Yugi do you?" Bakura nods, the white haired boy coming to stand next to the brunette as she carried on talking "There is way more to him then people see."

"Joey, Yugi can win this, right?" Joey groans at his friend's question "Man I wish I could tell ya. But after the way Panik beat Mai, I got no idea what Yugi's chances are." As they are talking, Panik is starting to get more and more on edge from Yugi's lack of cowering and he leans forward with sweat appearing across his brow and dripping down the sides of his face, shouting "Give up! Admit defeat! I'm going to crack you like an egg!"

"You'd like me to crack, wouldn't you Panik? Because it's worked for you before. Winning through intimidation, not through skill."

"You mock my skill? My skill is what's defeating you."

"Don't be so sure."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You think you're winning, that your tactics are taking me by surprise, but I saw your strategy the minute I saw what kind of man you are."

"You're talking nonsense-" Panik might have wanted to say something after that but Yugi's response is instant "I knew you would use Chaos Shield, cowardly bullies like you always try to hide behind something," that really sets Panik off, he loses all traces of his smug smirk as he responds "Shut up! I'm in no way a coward and I never try to hide behind anything!"

"Your whole strategy is nothing but hiding and cowering."

Panik's whole body trembles with barely contained rage as he growls, hating to be called a coward. Looks like Yugi's found the big guy's weak spot "You dare to call me a coward?" he uses the dial above the button for the flame throws to crank the fire's intensity up as high as it can go and more of the protrusions the flames come from pop out of the arena, pointed directly at Yugi "You insignificant little worm. Nobody talks to me that way! I am Panik the eliminator!" He lifts his fist up high and slams in into the button. To everyone's shock, as thin, concentrated flames shoot out like lasers, all Yugi does is take a step back to be just out of the literal line of fire. Panik leans over at his console, breathing heavily from anger "Are you finished? Or are you going to continue to hide behind your bluster and battlements like a big coward?" Unlike Panik, who at this point has permanently lost his grin, Yugi's seems to have become a permanent fixture of his face. Panik growls loudly, his fist clenched and shaking from the strain, looking for all the world like he needs something to slam it into "The truth hurts, doesn't it Panik? Facing up to your true self is usually more then bullies like you can bare, so you hide in the shadows."

"You will taunt me no longer!" seeing how angry Panik is getting, Tea shouts up "Yugi, he's dangerous. You've just gotta stop stirring him up."

"Don't interfere," the group turn to look at Mai and Lila who are watching with relatively neutral expression, the latter of the two now speaks up, following on from Mai's train of thought "He's just using the same tactic's Panik's been using this whole duel. Psyche out warfare." Mai nods in agreement.

"I will burn you to a cinder!"

"That would prove you're a coward. If you're not afraid then you should stop hiding and play this game with honour. Or I will rip you pathetic fearsome facade away!"

"You bluff!"

"There's only one way you'll know for sure, play out this game. After all we'll know, in two turns," he hold up two fingers now, to drill his point home "Can you last just two turns? Do you have the courage?"

"Do I have the courage?" he finally straightens out of his hunch "Panik fears now duellist! I will crush your spirit and wipe out your life points!"

"Boy, Yugi really shook Panik up. Psychology is half the game," as Mai speaks, Yugi places his hand on his deck to draw "An now, it's my turn. And my card is Gaia, The Fierce Knight!" the knight's purple steed whinnies loudly as it appears on the field, it's front legs kicking wildly.

"Idiot, do you really think a monster with attack power that weak can break through my Chaos Shield?"

"Maybe not by himself but I also have a magic card," Yugi reaches forward and flips his last card face up "Read it a weep."

"A Polymerization card!"

"And with this card, I can combine them to create Gaia, The Dragon Champion!" the two monsters merge into one, with Yugi's dragon taking the place of the purple horse "Now my combo creature's attack power is raised to twenty six hundred!"

"The dragon champion?"

"My turn's over, but you're finished as well," Panik frowns at Yugi's words, once again, his plan is a mystery to the eliminator, his monster isn't strong enough to break through his shield to destroy any of his monsters. Obviously Yugi knows more then Panik does, which means he can't risk throwing away a monster and possibly the rest of his life points with an attack if he doesn't have a better idea of what Yugi is planning, better to bolster his defence to try and make whatever Yugi has planned pointless, dragging it out until he next turn where he will be able to attack. He draws "Ah perfect. Metal Guardian in defence mode. He will further shield my creatures. And the field power bonus raises his defence power to twenty seven ninety five. With him on guard, any attack against my monsters is totally impossible." Panik's new monster is a hunched over mechanical looking thing that doesn't look like either a machine or a creature but a mixture of the two that doesn't fit into either category.

"It figures, you're cowering again."

"Insolent dog!"

"Your strategy is nothing but putting up defences. You're showing how weak you are."

"Silence. In the next turn the swords of light will be extinguished, then I'll hit you with everything at once."

"It'll be too late. I've already lead you deep into my trap."

"What," what is Yugi talking about, he doesn't have any face downs out that could possibly be a trap and as far as Panik knows, his monster doesn't have any special abilities that could turn this around.

"The stronger you make your defences, the more you lock yourself into defeat."

"That's a joke. You're nothing but talk."

"The time for talk is over, that was your last tun," Yugi holds up a single finger "The end is now! Catapult Turtle," the turtle in question looks completely mechanical and it has a small launch pad on it's shell "Slow and steady wins the duel Panik. For I use the turtle's catapult to launch Gaia, The Dragon Champion and shatter your defences," Yugi's monster settles into the grove on the launch pad while Panik recoils "Catapult launch raises Gaia, The Dragon Champion's attack power all the way up to thirty two hundred! You weren't expecting that, were you?" there is a whirring sound as the catapult lifts and takes aim.

"My monster's defence power is still much to strong for you. Protected as they are by the Chaos Shield, you still can't touch them. You can only watch helplessly as they prepare to assault you next turn."

"Who said anything about attacking your monsters? What I'm attack is... the castle," he points to further force in his point and Mai lets out a gasp of shock.

"You fool! My castle is still unassailable. It's walls are still invincible to any of your attacks. So I won't take any damage at all."

"We'll see about that. Turtle, catapult launch my dragon champion," Yugi accompanies his order with a sweeping hand motion. There is another small whirr sound and the dragon champion is fired forward with a screech, one lance getting pointed forward, ready. He slams into the castle at such high speed it's hard to see clearly and there is an explosion of bright light when he makes contact with his target. When the light clears, Yugi's life points drop dramatically.

"Wow, Yugi flushed a lot of points with that maneuver."

"Yeah! He sacrificed his dragon champion!"

"That's an awfully big loss, both in monsters and in life points."

"Right! And if this attack don't bring down that castle, then next turn Panik will wipe out the rest of Yugi's life points."

"I hope this works."

"It has to work."

"I can't see a thing," Tea complains squinting to try and peer through the thick, dark smoke, then is slowly starts to clear "Wait..." cracks appear in the ring around the centre of Panik's castle, it crumbles and falls away but other then that, there is no further damage to the main body of the castle "No it's still floating! The castle survived!" Panik bursts out in relieved laughter, to think he'd been genuinely worried that Yugi would be able to pull of his boasts "Fool! For all your threats my castle is unharmed. Your worthless attack simple knocked it's flotation ring off. And now that your attack has failed, I'll eliminate you once and for all! It's been five turns and I'm still standing Yugi! My monsters are still contained and protected within the Chaos Shield. When this turn is over, the paralysing effects of your Swords Of Revealing Light will vanish. Then on my turn, I'll attack you will all of my monsters and wipe you out forever!" Unlike everyone else, Yugi isn't the least bit concerned or worried but the lack of obvious destruction.

"There is no next turn for you. This duel has already ended."

"It's not over!"

"Doesn't it seem strange to you that a castle that's lost it's flotation ring is somehow still floating? What if the Swords Of Revealing Light had locked in place not only your monsters, but your castle as well? The what would happen next?" the swords surrounding Panik's field start to flicker, like a torch with a dying battery.

"It can't be!"

"Can it?" Mai's voice is soft as she watches, unable to tear her eyes from the duel that is so close to an end. Yugi points at his opponent, explaining "Right now the only thing holding up your castle are the Swords Of Revealing Light. And when this turn ends, each and every sword will vanish."

"But... that means..."

"It's over! And now your world's about to come tumbling down."

"No! No one defeats Panik!" Yugi lift his hand, showing a thumbs up that he turns upside down as he says "My turn... is over." The swords fade out of existence and just like Yugi said, the castle instantly starts to fall "Run monsters! Get out of the way!"

"It's no good! The Chaos Shield is keeping them from running anywhere. You've trapped them all inside," Panik lets out a shocked cry while his monsters, sensing what is about to happen, hit at the wall of the shield that had been protecting them, trying to find a way to escape. Lila frowns, she actually can't help but feel a little bad for Panik's monsters, it's not their fault they belong to such a creep. They all let out pained cries as the castle crushes them, Lila turning to look away. Yugi's won but she doesn't need to see that. As soon as the castle makes contact with the ground, it crumbles into a cloud of dust and Panik's life points fall to zero. Yugi's friends, sans Lila, all let out a chorus of cheers.

"He won!"

"And Panik's not taking it well!"

"I'll say. Panik's having a panic attack!"

"Nobody beats Panik! Nobody!" Panik is hunched over at his console and he looks over at Yugi, who is still locked in his podium "Look at him, that smug little worm, still he mocks me. I may not have defeated you Yugi! But I can still eliminate you!" He slams his fist down into the button so hard that he actually break it. Every single one of the fire shooters goes off, creating a wall of flames around the entire arena, trapping the two inside. The on lookers gasp in horror, not knowing what they can do to help their friend "We'll see who's the coward now!" Two more flame throws appear on Panik's podium and fire streams straight at Yugi.

Yugi's puzzle light up and the glowing eye appears on his forehead. Before the flames can burn him, they hit an invisible barrier but the rest of the group don't see as the wall of flames goes wild and they all have to jump to ground to avoid being burned themselves. When the flames fired forward subside, Panik, stares in horror at Yugi, still standing there without so much as a speck of ash on his uniform "You... survived. How can this be? It's impossible."

"My Millennium Puzzle protects me from your cowardly assault. But nothing will protect you from... Oblivion!" He throws his hand forward and much like when he duelled Kaiba, uses the power of the puzzle to shatter Panik's mind, sending it and his body somewhere dark and far away.

* * *

The flames subside and Yugi is able to come down from the podium, Panik no where in sight. His friends all rush forward to congratulate him, Lila staying back to stand with a slightly shell shocked looking Mai and she just says "Yeah, you get use to it," before she chuckles a little when Mai turns her incredulous gaze to her and mouths, but doesn't actually say 'how? what?' Lila pats the older woman's shoulder as Tea remarks "Yugi, you were incredible!"

"You Millennium Puzzle has more power then we thought."

"Not only did it protect Yugi, but it also saved all of us from the flames too," Yugi steps through the group and Lila moves to the side so she's standing next to him as he stands in front of Mai as she stammers out "Yugi, I don't know what to say." He holds his hand with her star chips open between the two of them "Here. These star chips are yours," Mai looks down at them shocked, Yugi really kept his word "They're yours. Take them." Lila nudges the taller woman with her shoulder to try and knock her out of her shock.

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept them. I fight my own battles," though she smiling a little, Lila does have to roll her eyes. While it's admirable that Mai doesn't want to accept what she views as hand outs, she really needs to work on her pride.

"Mai, Yugi battled for you, he risked his life in this duel for you," Tea scolds, shooting the blonde duellist a slight glare while Yugi just stands in front of her, like Lila, he understands her reasons, even if what she thinks isn't what's actually happening.

"I know but-" before she can try to explain herself, Joey just laughs and steps forward "There's no point in arguing, she's way to thick headed," he comes up behind Yugi and to the other boy's shock, takes hold of the chips, helping himself "But if she'd rather be booted of the island, I'll take 'em." He laughs again and Mai growls, the vein in her head throbbing as she snaps at the teenager "You think me losing all my star chips is funny Joey Wheeler?" Lila takes Yugi's hand and pulls him a step back away from the two hot tempered blondes, offering him a smile and a quick peck on the cheek as she says "Congratulations. You had me worried there, but you pulled through." The spirit smiles at her then the two turn to watch the show.

"I thought you didn't want 'em Mai," she steps forward to grab them and Joey quickly lifts his hand above his head, using his height to his advantage as Mai reaches up to try and take them "Give 'em back!" Shockingly, Joey, softly slaps his hand onto Mai's depositing the chips into her palm "Of course you can have 'em. They're yours." Mai actually looks shocked as she looks at her star chip filled hand.

"Really Joey?"

"Didn't you learn anything from this duel? You can't always keep your defences up. 'Cause they'll just get between you... and the other people who are trying to be your friends," he gestures to Lila and the rest of the group, who all smile welcomingly at her "So can't you let your shield down... just this, one time?" Mai hums in agreement and Joey of course, goes and turns it all into a joke as he stretches and adds on "Heh heh! I'm such a sensitive guy."

"Yeah, when you're not being a pain."

"Which is most of the time."

"Ah, my adoring fans," the group starts to walk away, when Mai yells "Yugi wait," making them all stop and look at her "I'll repay you for what you did today. You're the one who one these so far as I'm concerned I still owe you. More then I've ever owed anyone," she looks down at the chips with a mildly confused expression before she looks back up and smiles "And when we finally do face each other in a duel, it'll be an honourable one!"

"Sounds good," Lila smiles and the spirit nods "Yes and honourable one. That's a duel I'd look forward too Mai," the group carry on walking away, Lila blushing a little when she realises she and the other Yugi are still holding hands, but she doesn't say anything or react like it's a big deal, she just smiles to herself and walks a little closer to him then normal.


	13. 13 Scars Of Defeat

_**Another one that was hard to write. Oddly this episode feels way shorter when you're just watching it but then you try to write it and you realise that it's pretty difficult because it doesn't feel like much actually happened outside of the flashback which was only like three minutes long and the Kaiba Joey duel which was not as much fun to fight as some of the others have been. **_**_So here's a question for actually not to far from now. The finals. It's going to come down to Joey, Lila and Yugi. Now do you guys want me to keep Yugi's opponent before Pegasus as Joey or should I do what I've been thinking and have it be Lila? I'll have a vote on my profile if you please give me your thoughts._**

_**Anyway, please enjoy.**_

* * *

Thirteen - The Scars Of Defeat

After Yugi's defeat of Panik and the group having parted ways with Mai, they've finally managed to set up a proper camp, though as they only have the one tend, which Bakura had the for thought to bring with him to the island, the group had decided to leave the tend to the two girls, the boys insisting they would be okay roughing it. Still, at the moment the only person using the tend is Tea, who's tucked herself away in one of the sleeping bags while Tristan and Joey are napping on the grass along isde the brown canvas. Strangely, Joey's using a small log of all things as a pillow. The other three members of the group are sitting at the edge of the cliff, Lila only minor paying attention to the two boys as she looks over her deck, cards laid out on the ground in front of her.

"Bakura, am I seeing things or is your Millennium Ring actually glowing?" Lila looks over to the artifact in question and actually pauses her strategy planning, that's weird. But then again, weird is starting to become pretty normal since they came to this island.

"If it's not then we're both hallucinating," Bakura responds, lifting the ring and the three notice that one of the dangling pointers has lifted itself up and Lila can't help but say "And none of us find this creepy?" She offers Yugi a small grin "The fact it's pointing at something." The three of them follow the direction it is pointing and look up at Pegasus' castle on the mountain and Bakura nods "It's almost like it's being tugged toward the castle."

"Why would it do that?"

"I don't know, but it did the same thing the day I met you. I had just transferred into your school."

"I remember that day," Lila pipes up as she picks up her cards, her attention now fulling having been pulled into the conversation "You'd been the topic of discussion all morning."

"I was watching you guys play Duel Monsters when suddenly my ring started to glow and pointed right towards your Millennium Puzzle," Lila's eyes widen and she glances to the pyramid puzzle hanging around her best friend's neck. So it looks like there's more to Bakura's necklace then just holding that dark spirit. Could Yugi's puzzle have more powers then just being an anchor type thing for his own spirit?

"Wow Bakura. Those pointers are somehow able to zone in on other Millennium Items."

"But then why would it point to the castle?"

"'Cause of what's inside the castle. Pegasus' Millennium Eye. That's what took my Grandpa's soul," as Yugi says that Lila groans loudly and throws herself back onto the grass, making the boys look over to her with slightly amused expressions "How many of these magic thingy-majigs are there?"

"It's all kind of scary, eh guys? Pegasus grabbing souls with his, and I'll never forget when mine took us all to the shadow realm," Lila pushes herself back up into a sitting position and offers Bakura a smile as she places a hand on his shoulder saying "It wasn't your fault. You can't control what an insane, who knows how old spirit does when it forcefully takes control over you. And that is one of the weirdest things I've ever said." Yugi nods in agreement but soon small yawns overtake the trio's conversation and it has Lila bidding them goodnight to join Tea in the tent while Yugi and Bakura decide to rest under a tree, Yugi using the bag given to them by Mai as a cushion. However, despite being tired, there is too much weighing on Yugi's mind after the talk of Millennium Items for him to sleep. It's like Lila said, how many are actually out there and, on another note, how are they all connected. Do they all contain spirits like his and Bakura's and if more of them do, are they dangerous like the on in the ring or are they allies like the one in his puzzle? It's all too much to really deal with in one sitting, but his mind is racing, preventing him for stopping. Until a loud sound draws his attention.

It's a helicopter, raising up the side of the cliff. The sound was it's rotater blades and it wakes up everyone camping out there and the two taller of the boys, are less then thrilled to be disturbed "Hey! Some of us are tryin' to get some shut-eye here, you insensitive jerk!" Lila trips out of the tent and blinks as her eyes react to the bright light while Tea peeks out from the flaps, unsure of what's going on. The group all gather together as they see the aircraft slowly lower to the ground and the blades begin to slow until they fall dead. All six of them gasp when they see who jumps out from the helicopter.

"It's Kaiba!"

"What's he doin' here?"

"I dunno. But it looks like he means business," Tristan remarks on Kaiba's more stern and stoic then usual expression. While the rest of the group hang back, Yugi runs over to Kaiba with Lila slowly following behind. The guy may be a jerk but he deserves to have his cards back.

"I haven't seen you since our duel Yugi," he then takes note of the brunette girl who is coming up behind the short boy, taking a stack of cards out of her deck box and handing them over to him without a word. Since she doesn't say anything, Yugi remarks "Lila's been keeping your deck safe for you."

"So you're the one who beat that impostor," he asks the girl with a raised eyebrow. Sure he's seen her play against the other people in the group and she isn't half bad, but it's still surprising that she managed to beat his deck. Even with his help. Lila shrugs, letting the tall boy take his cards "Thanks."

"And thanks for the help with that Blue-Eyes, I don't know how I would have got out of that without your help," she offers him a small smile, but it drops when Kaiba carries on with "You'll be compensated for all of your trouble." This just makes her roll her eyes as he walks away.

"Actually Kaiba I was thinking that since we're all headed for Pegasus' castle, you could stick with us. 'Course, huh, you'll need some star chips," Yugi says the last part absently, like he's quickly trying to think of a way to get some for the billionaire but Lila quickly add on "I've got enough to give you a couple to start with."

"Don't be so naive. This isn't just a game for me Yugi. I'm going after Pegasus to save my brother," he turn and frown at the two of them "Not so I can win some silly prize. Have fun with your tournament."

"But Kaiba...," the boy in question turns on his heels and carries on walking, his mind set on ignoring the group and uncaring about anything they have to say, which of course, Joey doesn't take very well.

"That snobby little," Joey growls and sprints over to the taller boy, grabbing him by the collar of his fancy looking navy trench coat that probably cost more then Lila gets from the game shop in a month "Hey, listen tough guy! I can understand you wantin' to get you little brother back and all, but don't go thinkin' that you're the only one here with a noble cause, capisce? We all got something worth fightin' for, so if you want a piece of Pegasus, get in line or deal with me."

"This is not going to end well," Lila sighs, placing her hand across her brow and shaking her head a little. All the while, Kaiba stares down at Joey, his eyes cold.

"That's right hot shot. I ain't scared of ya!"

"Nice grip," Kaiba remarks blandly as he reaches up and grabs one of Joey's hands "Let me show you mine," he squeezes Joey's hand and easily pulls him off and throws him to the side, the momentum causes Joey to hit the ground hard and he lets out a mild groan of pain.

"That was uncalled for," as Bakura says that, Yugi calls his friend's name and runs over to him.

"Joey! Can you hear me? Are you all right?"

"Check his pulse Yugi," Lila shoots Bakura a disbelieving look. The boy isn't unconscious, what goods that going to do? She shakes her head and jogs over to the boy in the green jacket and crouches down tugging on of his shoulders back to get a look at his face as she asks "Anything bleeding or broken? 'Cause I think there's a first aid kit in the bag."

"Relax. I'm fine," Joey brushes her off as he pushes himself to his feet.

"Do you really think I'm gonna let you and this little tournament you're in delay me from finding Pegasus?"

"Forget Pegasus!" Joey snaps, spinning around to glare at Kaiba "Now you got me to deal with, so bust out your cards and let's get it on!" Back with the peanut gallery, Tea and Tristan both look as if they have no idea what to make of Joey's challenge.

"I can't tell is Joey's being really brave or nuts."

"Forget it. Why don't you go look for an opponent you can actually beat, like an infant. Or a monkey."

"What'd you say?" Joey clenches his fists and his whole body turns hostile and Tristan rightly remarks "That monkey thing gets him every time." Seeing the reaction his words had, Kaiba gives an amused smirk, that was too easy.

"I don't have time for your nonsense," Kaiba turns back towards the treeline and carries on walking throwing a quick "Loser," back at the hot tempered blonde. Not one to let a taunt go, Joey quickly responds back with "Go ahead and run. Everyone knows you're nothin' but a washed up has been!" Lila shoots Joey a dark look and shakes her head, this is not the way to go about dealing with Kaiba.

"Joey, be careful what you say. Kaiba may be a creep, but he's still pretty much considered the top duelist in all the world."

"Not anymore," that get's Kaiba's attention. He stops in his tracks and looks back at Joey "That's right tough guy. I bet ever since Yugi mopped the floor with you, you can't even lay a trap card without flinchin'!" _As oppose to barely knowing how a trap card functions in the first place, _Lila thinks impolitely. The other three members of the group come up behind the irate blonde.

"Ok it go."

"This is really the wrong guy to pick a fight with," of course their well meaning attempts to calm him down are ignored and he continues goading the rich teenager "What do you say money bag? Care to prove me wrong?" Kaiba smirks.

"On on condition...," the group all look at him, curious "We play using my newest innovation in holographic duel technologies."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It means that is Joey's really that eager to duel me, he's gonna have to do it using my latest holographic system," Kaiba holds out his metal briefcase, drawing attention to it for the first time since his arrival "It's a new high-tech duelling device that allows players the realism of arena matches in any setting."

"Portable duel arenas?" Lila asks, her interest officially peaked as she tilts her head to the side.

"Looks like just a regular old briefcase to me," both Lila and Tea groan in pain at that one.

"It's in the briefcase you moron," Kaiba crouches down and flips the case latches opening it as Lila remarks "You know you deserved that one, right?" Kaiba takes out a red coloured disk looking thing and frisbee throws it over to Joey, allowing everyone to take a closer look at it. Lila tucks her hair behind her ear as she looks it over. It has a place for a card in the centre and four card placements around the edge. Still, it looks a little awkward for being the top innovation that Kaiba's claiming it to be "It's technology is unprecedented."

"It looks like a flying saucer," _that's why you can't have nice things Joey, _Lila mentally sighs.

"Don't be an idiot. This is the most state of the art display modulator ever built. So if you think you have what it takes to handle it, just strap it on."

Joey pulls on the smaller of the two discs onto his wrist, it's attached to the larger one with a thin black electrical cord and he looks down at it a little dumbly as he asks "Ok. Now what happens?"

"First, insert your dueling deck into the display drive recogniser. A life point count will light up and keep score for you the entire match," negates the need for maths, always a plus. Kaiba inserts his deck into the arm attachment "Then choose a card to play and set it on the digital card reader. I think the rest will explain itself." Kaiba chooses his first card and places it on the slightly larger card zone on the top.

"Huh, cool," Joey remarks as he follows Kaiba's lead.

"All set? Then let's duel."

"You got it."

"Now, brace yourself... for my Battle Ox," Kaiba throws the larger of the two disks out and the connecting cord grows taunt, stopping it from spinning off so it sits in front of him and a whirring noise, couple with bright light appears, allowing the monster to manifest.

"Wow, check out all those lights, it's like it's raining glitter."

"Yeah, it's like something from an enchanted dream," of course Tea loses her look of dreamy wonder when the monster in question appears, standing all over both duellists, armoured and brandishing an impressive looking axe "Or a nightmare!" Everyone is taken back by how real the monster looks, even more so that the ones that appear on the duelling field.

"No way! That's a hologram?"

"A hologram of unprecedented realism. It breaths, it snarls. My new dueling disk even simulates it's odor."

"You're tellin' me! That thing really stinks," Joey finally picks his first card "Good thing he won't be around for much longer. All righty... Here goes nothing," Joey throws his disk out "Go Armoured Lizard!"

"Go Battle Ox! Axe slam attack!" as Joey's monster rushes forward, Kaiba's raises it's weapon and slams it into the monster's neck, however it isn't instantly destroyed and Joey cheers "Yes! He withstood your attack!"

"Oh did he? Look again!" the axe easily cuts through the reptile's scales and makes it halfway through it's neck before Joey's monster lights up and fades back into his spinning disk. It even spits Joey's card off of it, which is probably a bit of a flaw considering how easy it would be for someone to lose their cards that way.

"Ok... that's real enough for me. I can't believe it. That ugly overgrown ox! He cut my lizard in half," Joey complains as his life points drop by two hundred.

"This new technology isn't for the faint of heart Joey," Lila tilts her head, huh, is that the first time Kaiba has called their friend by his first name? "It's intended to force duellists to think on their feet. If it's too much for you, maybe you should give up now."

"Fat chance!" each of the spinning disks returns to the duellists hands so they can make their next move "Don't you worry Kaiba, I'm a quick learner. Watch. Set the card, spin the disk, and... bingo! The Flame Swordsman!" Joey's favourite monster appears though it looks a little off considering the last time everyone saw it, even if they think it was a dream, the monster had been Joey so seeing it's actual appearance doesn't look right "Ready to slaughter that sirloin of yours. Attack! Flaming Sword Of Battle!"

"But Joey! The Battle Ox is resistant to ll fire-type creatures!" Lila looks to Yugi, frowning her jaw dropped a little as she tries to put that together. Since when? It doesn't say anything about that on the card and it's not like they have the stupid tournament rules the big duel arenas enforce. As the group watches, Joey's monster rushes the armoured ox but his burning sword is shattered by the beast's axe "Now he tells me."

"Why am I not surprised that you'd make such an amateur mistake? Maybe from now on you ought to let Yugi pick all of your moves for you. Or, better yet, why don't I teach you some of the advanced moves of the game the hard way?" Kaiba takes two cards and places them on the disk at the same time "Mystic Horseman and Battle Ox..." he throws it out "Merge into Rabid Horseman!" Kaiba's monster is back but this time it's lower half has been replaces with the centaur lower half of his Mystic Horsemen.

"You think I'm afraid of that deformed pony? I'll show you something that you should be afraid of. Swamp Battleguard! Attack!" Joey's monster is barely summoned before Kaiba's monster smashes it "Axe Raider, avenge my battleguard!" another monster is quickly destroyed "Go Battle Steer!" By this point Lila and Tea both can't watch, Joey's just throwing monster after monster at Kaiba's fusion without taking the time to properly think about his moves and how he has to adapt to use the disk properly. However it's not just the girls who are affected, Joey's starting to get a little shaken by the constant destruction of his monsters "Um...Garoozis? Ok uh, let's see here... Smashing Rock..." his Rock Ogre crumbles "Uh... Rude Kaiser." After the constant onslaught, Joey's life points have dropped all the way to five hundred and he seems out of breath while Kaiba isn't phased in the least. He drops to his knees and Kaiba laughs mockingly.

"That's right Joey. Fall to the dirt like a whimpering dog," as Kaiba taunts him, Joey struggles to think up his next move when Tea finally speaks up, shocking him out of his thoughts.

"Come on Joey, you're the best at finding ways to come back from behind!"

"She's right Joey."

"Now get up! No way Kaiba gets away with calling you a canine!"

"You're right Tristan," Joey stands back up, a new determined glint in his eyes "No one calls me a whimpering dog. And once he sees what I got in store for him, he's gonna be the one in the dirt. Check this out! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey's strongest monster appears with a mighty roar, standing proud and towering over Kaiba's bull centaur creature,

"Joey's best card!" Tea cheers and the group look on in smiles, now he's got just the monster he needs to take out Kaiba's fleabag.

"Kaiba's in big trouble now!"

"Inferno fire blast!" a stream of burning red emits from the black dragon's mouth and engulfs Kaiba's monster, destroying it "Take that!"

"It's just like a novice to rejoice when there's no reason to celebrate," Kaiba is still completely unphased, even with Joey bringing out such a powerful monster and dropping his life points to sixteen hundred in a single turn "True the round may be yours, but the duel is about to become mine."

"Say what?"

"Your red eyes is a powerful dragon, but his ferocity pales in comparison to my beast...," Yugi and Lila gasp, both of the knowing and have gone up against the monster Kaiba is talking about "The legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba's monster appears and the differences between the two monsters are easily noticeable, beyond their colouring. Kaiba's is taller and more muscular but the lines are softer and rounder, more feminine looking then the harsh edges that make up Joey's dragon. All in all, Kaiba's if more impressive looking, matching it's higher strength "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, white lightning attack, now!" The beam of light that comes from Kaiba's dragon crackles with energy and blasts Joey's dragon, along with the rest of his life points, causing him to drop to his knees.

"No! I lost!"

"That's right Joey, stay down. Stay down like the sniveling, defeated dog I've turned you into."

"That's enough!" Lila snap at Kaiba, glaring angrily at him, her fists clenched tightly by her side while Yugi calls out to their friend "Are you alight Joey?" The all hurry over to the blonde.

"It's okay kiddo."

"I'd say my duel disk system has proven quite effective. Not only did it's stunning realism jar Joey into complete and utter submission, but just look at him. He's moping like a frightened dog with his tail between his legs. Which is exactly how I intend to leave Pegasus."

"But Joey's no Pegasus," Lila growls, taking a step towards the much taller teen "There's no need to be such a jackass when you win!"

"Yeah you jerk. Did you have to take his confidence away with his dragon? Joey was just starting to believe in himself as a duellist."

"That's right. Beating him doesn't give you the right to humiliate him."

"Quiet Yugi," Joey pipes up, making the three of them look at the crouched boy "Don't give that creep the satisfaction." Kaiba scoffs at the blonde's attempts to remain tough "Look kid, do you honestly believe that if you were duelling Pegasus he would've been anymore merciful with you then I was? I understand that the heart of the cards is a powerful philosophy and that is all works well for you, but I need to duel my own way now. I can't risk trying something new. And maybe Joey shouldn't either. Unless he likes life as a dog. Scrounging on the scraps of past victories and begging for mercy from true duellists."

"Please Kaiba, that's just not true, and you know it," as Yugi speaks, Kaiba looks over to Pegasus' castle above them.

"Oh yeah? Well that's the attitude you have to take if you want to stand a chance against Maximillion Pegasus. You don't understand Yugi, this is the man who created Duel Monsters. He has every card that's ever been made at his disposal. He's mastered every strategy that's ever been played. Pegasus always makes sure that he has every possible advantage working in his favour. If I'm to stand any chance against him at all, I'll have to play by my own ruthless rules, not his. Open your eyes," Kaiba turns back to the group "Even with your prodigious talents Yugi, you'll be defeated like all the others. Because when Pegasus duels, he uses much more then mere skill. I've seen him use a magic that's stronger than any card. It was at the intercontinental tournament in New York City. I had been invited as Pegasus guest of honour. A skilled hot-shot duelist called Bandit Keith had made it to the final match. He was playing well, but I could see that Pegasus was still just toying with him. Of course, Keith had no idea. Pegasus just stared straight into Keith's eyes with unnerving confidence. Then he scribbled something on a piece of paper and called over some kid from the crowd. Then he walked away and by following the note, the kid beat Keith in a single round. I still don't know how he did it, I only hope mt new duel disk system will give me the edge I need to beat him once and for all." Kaiba packs away the disk from Joey back into his briefcase.

"That story...," Yugi begins and Lila nods to him in agreement.

"It's like when you faced Pegasus right?" Yugi hums before he carries on with "It was like Pegasus was able to see all my cards. But Kaiba, that's still no excuse to take it out on us and turn Joey into your new system's guinea pig!"

"Perhaps, but that system could be my only way to beat Pegasus, so I had to test it. This is war for me Yugi, You friend was a casualty," with that he turns once again and walks off, seeming to have had the last word before Yugi calls after him "Kaiba, we may not agree with each other's methods, but at least we both understand that Pegasus must be stopped," though he doesn't turn back around, he does pause for a moment at Yugi's sincere words "I hope you succeed in rescuing your brother."

"And I hope you succeed in your ventures," Kaiba responds over his shoulder "Let's just hope our paths don't cross again before this is all over." The group are all silent as they watch Kaiba disappear into the tree line.


	14. 14 Arena Of Lost Souls

_**So these two episodes are a big example of not writing scenes Lila isn't in. Since Joey's duel with Bonz won't change and we all know how it goes, I'm only going to be writing when Lila's around, which will probably cut out a lot of the duel. Hope that doesn't bother anyone. This will become more prominent in season two. Hell, I might end up doing entirely my own chapters to replace episodes that only focus on Joey's duels, if people would be okay with that. Haven't decided yet.**_

_**Also going to plug the poll again. Please vote, it'll be a huge help when it comes to writing the finals.**_

_**Anyway, enjoy.**_

* * *

Fourteen - Arena Of Lost Souls

It's the next morning and after a pretty rough night, Joey is the first to wake up. He whimpers to himself, the sound carrying over from his unconscious mind until a freezing drop of morning dew drops onto his face, waking him from his still half asleep mind. The rest of the boys are all still sleeping around him as he shoots upright and glances around, coming back to himself "A dream. Ahh! Kaiba, we'll see who eats the dog chow on this island," he gets to his feet, new determination running through him "Everybody, wake up!" The other boys are still groggy and even from the tent, the sole occupant can hear Joey's call. Lila yawns loudly, rubbing the sleep from their eyes as Yugi asks Joey what's wrong "Nothing's wrong. It's just a brand new day of the tournament, and I'm hot to find us a duel!"

"Well you don't have to yell about it," Lila hears Tristan scold as she steps out of the tend, sluggishly making their way over to join the boys, not sure where Tea's gotten to this morning until she makes her presence known, coming out from the bushes, her voice chipper in a way that shows she's been awake for a while "Hey guys, what's all the commotion?"

"Good morning Tea," the group look around, they were suppose to be meeting up with Mai this morning but there's no sign of her, something Joey calls out "She said she had to go, and to give you this note Yugi." That explains where she was so early in the day. She holds out a piece of paper to the spikey hair boy. As he takes it, everyone else ducks around him to get a peek at it as well. It's all smudged and red, making it look like it's been written using lipstick, which is possible, but luckily it's still legible, Mai reminding Yugi that she still feels like she owes him back the star chips he won back. Yugi's cheeks turn red while Tristan remarks in a blase manner "Kiss those chips good bye."

"I dunno. Maybe we really can trust Mai."

"Yeah," Lila shrugs "When you're not actively trying to antagonise her," she shoots Joey a pointed look "She's actually pretty nice and easy to get along with. I think dealing with pro league jerks like Rex and Weevil just kinda soured her personality towards tournaments is all."

"Well is we can't, we're still the team supreme. Right?" while the others all agree with him, Lila gives him a good natured, but exasperated smile as she says "Never call us that again." He just laughs it off and declares "Okay then, move out!"

* * *

"I wonder how many duellists there are left on the island," Bakura comments aloud as the group walk, not having run into anyone.

"Yeah," Lila nods "I mean if there's more eliminators like Panik, then who knows since unlike the rest of us, they won't stop after getting the ten chips we need."

"They shipped a couple dozen home yesterday."

"That many," Lila frowns, that sounds like a pretty decent percentage of the total competitors, weren't there only like fifty to sixty people when this thing started. The numbers are going down pretty quickly.

"And I bet even more have been eliminated by now."

"And some of them were really good players with powerful cards too. We could be next."

"Not a chance Yuge, those other guys just wanted the prize. You and Joey have a lot more at stake. Lila too since she's here to help you," Lila throws Tristan a smile for putting her with the two boys.

"That's true, we've got to rescue grandpa from Pegasus and Joey needs the prize money to help his sister. And the duellists we face today will be even stronger, 'cause they survived the first round," Yugi's words give Joey pause, both mentally and physically as he stops for a moment to think on them. Of course Joey's concern has Tristan taunting him, making Lila sigh and step to the side, knowing where this is going, for such good friends, those two don't half irritate each other "Careful what you say Yugi, you've got little Joey here shaking in his sneakers." Joey's also still on edge from his duel with Kaiba and the billionaire's taunting that followed, so even though Tristan's taunting is meant in good nature, it's enough to set the blonde boy's temper off.

"What? You think I'm a scared little puppy dog?" he takes a swing at Tristan who avoids and the two boys end up growling at each other with their fists clenched "Well if the collar fits." Thankfully Tea is there.

"All right, break it up," she puts hand on each boys' chest and pushes them away from each other, sounding like a babysitter scolding a pair of misbehaving kids.

"Hey, you just bring on any duellist. Then I'll cream 'em."

"Right," Yugi nods, glad his friend's got his confidence back "You gotta believe in yourself Joey."

"We do," Lila comments, nudging into the boy from behind making him stumble and laugh as he wraps and arm around the small brunette, who easily ducks away and the two end up running around the group laughing while the others watch, Tea shaking her head. Lila may call the boys idiots and comment on their silliness but she's also more then happy to join in too. It's why she gets along with them.

* * *

As the group carry on walking, Joey hears something in the bushes around them and it has him on edge "Did you hear that? I think we're being followed."

"I think you're getting a little paranoid Joey," Tea comments, not having heard anything and Tristan nods in agreement "You've been acting hyper ever since you woke up this morning. Man, what the heck is eating you anyway." Joey comes to a stop "I'm telling you, somebody's stalking us!" He shudders and runs off, Tristan asking where he's running off too "To stalk them!"

"He's probably just going to find somewhere to go to the bathroom," Lila shrugs "You guys wanna wait here or we gunna let him try and catch up?" There's a round of shrugs, no sense in one of the group getting lose so they all settle in to wait for the blonde to calm down and come back to them. Knowing Joey it won't be too long and they can get back to the tournament.

* * *

"Joey's been gone an awfully long time," Yugi remarks as he and Lila glance at the girls watch.

"You don't suppose he got lost?"

"No way. But he could have been challenged to a duel."

"I bet that's it," the group look at Tristan whose head drops and he actually looks a little ashamed "I must have got on his case a little too hard about being scared so now he's gone off to fight a duel all by himself."

"Okay," Bakura pipes in "Let's split up and try to find him." Tristan instantly takes charge and gives people directions for them to check out, sending Yugi and Tea one way, while he and the other two head in the other and they all run off to try and see if they can find any sign of their missing friend.

As the three of them run, they all call out for Joey but get no response, the two boys powering ahead while Lila lags behind a little until Tristan has to stop to catch his breath and she's able to catch up properly "There's no sign of him anywhere."

"Let's try looking over there," Bakura suggests, grabbing Lila's hand to help her keep up as they run in the direction he suggests. However the path doesn't lead them to Joey, instead it leads them to the waterfall where Yugi and Tea are looking, the four rejoining.

"No luck?" Lila asks but Yugi shakes his head and she sighs Dammit Joey where are you? They have no real other choice but to keep searching around until someone finds something. That somethings happens to be a tan wallet. Out of curiousity, Lila kneels down by Tea's feet and picks it up, the two girls looking it over while Tea calls for Tristan to come and see what they've found.

"Hey, that's Joey wallet," he says as he comes up behind the girls and gets a quick glance at the inside and Tea nods "With a picture of his sister, Serenity."

"Joey wouldn't let this thing out of his sight," Lila remarks "He adores Serenity."

"Yeah, his sister means more to him then anything," the other two boys come over to see what has the three of them stopping in their search "This is starting to smell like foul play." The two look around, they aren't that far from the water fall but the big thing is that Tea spots the opening to a cave and directs the groups attention over to it "Look over there!"

"A cave. I don't like the look of this," Tristan takes the lead while Lila shoves Joey's wallet away for when they find him and the group follow after the tan coat wearing boy as Yugi remarks "Neither do I." They head into the cave, unsurprising it's pretty dark but it's also really deep and they quickly move away from the light provided by the entrance. There's no sign of Joey but there's also no branching paths that they can see, so if he is here, then it's probable that he's just further inside. There's a loud squeak as bats flutter past and the girls shudder.

"What is this place?" in front of them is a pair of old looking, ornate coffins. They're propped up against the cave wall on either side.

"Be careful. It could be some kind of trap."

"What's up with those coffins?"

"No idea," Lila swallows as she eyes them nervously, even taking a step back "But I'm not touching 'em." Unlike the brunette, Bakura walks right up to one of them and puts his hand on the front, asking "Who'd leave them just standing here?"

"A lunatic?" Yugi glances to his creeped out friend and says to his less scared ones "I wouldn't touch those guys."

"Be careful."

"Don't be silly," Tea throws back with a small smile as she steps closer and tilts her head to the side as she rests her hands on the lid "It's just a wooden b-" There is a creaking and the chains no one had really paid any attention to on either side of the coffins starts to move and the two by the coffins look at them nervously. The coffins are pulled fully upright in front of them and Tea lets out a cry of fright as the door of hers opens on it's own and a skeleton falls onto her. She and Bakura both let out sounds of fright as they try and shake the, hopefully, Halloween props off of them before the other two boys step in and pull them off, all the while Lila is shaking her head, her eyes wide and just repeating the word nope, over and over again.

"That Pegasus has sure got a sick sense of humor," the group look at the skeletons on the ground in shock. Now they aren't on them, they can see that they aren't real, but they aren't like the cheap one you can get from the store, which explains why they looked so realistic.

"You said it Tristan," Yugi steps over to a still creeped out Lila and nudges her back to herself. She looks down and just shakes her head, saying "I would like to go home now."

"We will, we just need to find Joey first," Yugi assures her and takes her hand as they carry on down the cave, not noticing Bakura falling behind as they all speed up to try and get through quicker. This cave is seriously deeps, more like a tunnel with how it's just one straight and narrow path. Eventually though they have to stop.

"Still no sign of Joey."

"Yeah."

"Hey," Bakura looks back at the rest of the group "Where's Bakura?" The other three look back, finally noticing the white haired boy's absence. Tea looks back and frowns a little "We didn't take any turns, so where could he have gone?"

"I don't know Tea," then there's a loud scream and they all are relieved when they recognise it "Did you hear that?"

"Sounds like Bakura," thankfully they don't have to go looking for another missing friend.

"Bakura! This way!" however as he appears from the shadows, he screams again, calling for help and that's when everyone sees what he's screaming about. He's got one of those skeletons draped across his back. The rest of the group all scream and start to sprint away from him, clearly this cave is getting to them as Bakura shouts after them "Help! Get this thing off of me!" Eventually Tristan calms down enough to pull the prop off of their friend and throws it to the ground, and smashes the head with this foot, declaring to the rest of them "From now on, don't go picking up any hitchhikers." Behind him Yugi, Tea and Bakura are all laid out on the ground while Lila is sitting with her head tucked into her knees.

"Is it safe to open my eyes now?"

"You gave us all quite a scare with that skeleton Bakura," Yugi lightly scolds Bakura as he sits up and Lila chances a glance up, shuddering. Bakura offers an apology as he pushes himself up and glances over at the still shaking Lila. For a girl who loves Halloween, you'd expect her to have a better reaction then the rest of them, but she's just as freaked out as they are, if not more so, which makes sense since she can't watch scary movies while the rest of them have no problem.

"Never mind that. Because now we've got another problem," Tristan nods to the wall behind the sitting teenagers, so they crane their necks to see what he's talking about "Which way do we go now? Anybody got any ideas?"

"Gee, both ways look so inviting," Bakura chuckles at Tea's expression while Tristan feels the need to remind everyone just why they are down in this cave in the first place "Yeah, well is Joey got invited down one of those tunnels, then we need to figure out which one."

"Tristan's right. We need to find Joey now," the rest of the group all agree but no sooner have the other three got to their feet, then something else happens. Bakura takes a step and seems to activate some kind of pressure plate. He cries out in shock, making everyone look at him.

"What is the sound?" there's a slight rumbling coming from the cave behind them and Lila groans, not more skeletons and horror movie theatrics. She's spooked enough already.

"I stepped on a switch or something."

"Quiet now!" Bakura gasps softly realising the rest are trying to hear and covers his mouth.

"Listen. Now the sound's getting louder."

"I think it's coming this way."

"Then why are we just standing here?" Lila asks her friends, her voice shaky as she tries to swallow down her nerves. However everyone else seems pretty transfixed on the cave behind them "Just what's coming this way?" Then the sound's source makes itself known. It's a giant boulder rolling towards them. With a chorus of panicked yells, the group turn tail and run, not even taking a moment to pick a path, they just sprint down whichever is closest to them, eager to put as much space between them and the giant rock as possible.

"Why is that boulder chasing us?"

"'Cause we're down hill!" Bakura just loops apologies, as if he had any idea that Pegasus would have set up anything this insane. The group keeps running but the cave floor isn't exactly level and Bakura ends up tripping on an indent or a risen rock, the group can't quite see, and ends up falling to the ground and proceeds to get run over by the boulder.

"It got Bakura!" Tea cries as Yugi shouts that and Tristan yells "Don't look back!"

"Like any of us want to!"

"Keep running or it-" that's when the group see that the path they've been running down doesn't lead anywhere "Oh no! It's a dead end! We're trapped!" Tristan pushes a foot into the ground to slow his momentum and turns around "Since there's nowhere to run, I'm gonna fight!"

"Tristan you can't punch out-"

"A boulder!"

"I'm gonna try!" Tristan lets out a cry and throws his fist towards the giant rock... which then proceeds to pop, making every stare wide eyes and slack jawed "A balloon?"

"Yeah, and that's a speaker," Yugi points out the round speaker that much be what the rumbling sound was coming from "Somebody wired that thing for sound, and I'm betting it was Pegasus." Lila's breath come in short pants, making the boys look over to her while Tea heads back up the path to find Bakura, not seeing the other brunette's legs give out from under her.

"Lila!" Tristan yells, hurrying over to the short girl "You okay?"

"I die now," she then proceeds to faint, luckily the boys are there to stop her hitting the rocks. The hoist her up onto Tristan's back and follow after Tea, to see her crouched over a whimpering, shocked Bakura.

"Pegasus spared no expense to scare us half to death," Yugi looks to Lila, frowning, hopefully she'll be okay once the shock wears off "Still, at least we know which path to take now." The group continue to back track up the path and turn into the other opening to follow it down. Thankfully their aren't anymore forks in the path and all the traps seems to be behind them, meaning they have pretty much a smooth run.

Along the way they see light, which could either be a way out or a sign of people. Lila has thankfully come back to herself now and it able to walk with them and give Tristan's back a break. When they all get closer, they can see a duel field, a boy with a familiar mop of blonde hair on the podium closest to them and they call out to him, making him turn around. It is Joey.

"Yugi! You're really here!" from the other side of the cavern, a shades wearing blonde man with a flag on his head tells two of his goons to stop the group from getting any closer and they rush to follow his orders as Yugi asks "What kind of duel arena is this?"

"It looks like one of Tomas' Resident Evil games," Lila comments, shuddering, she hates zombies.

"Are you crazy, why in the world did you accept a duel in a place like this?" Joey turns around properly to face his friends "Yeah, like I had a choice. Those three creeps there ganged up on me and forced me into this crazy duel." The two circus reject looking goons step between Joey's podium and the gathered teenagers as Tristan tells them "This duel's over."

"That's no up to you, chum," the pinkish red haired one smirks, his voice sounding like he's put on a fake, over exaggerated accent that's a mix of English and Australian.

"I say it is," Tristan takes a step forward, causing the bigger of the two to get involved "You wanna stop it, you gotta get past me."

"My please," he then proceeds to run at the two smirking goons but out of nowhere something hits him in the forehead, knocking him off balance and letting the bigger of the two land a punch into his gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to hit the ground as Yugi calls out his name.

"Tristan, are you-"

"Hold it," the guy with the flag on his head calls out when Joey moves like he's going to jump down from his podium to check on his friend "Remember, if you leave the arena, you forfeit the duel, and all your star chips belong to me." Joey's calls out in shock while Tea shouts up "The duel is illegal anyway."

"Right Tea."

"Wrong Tea," he's not even smirking anymore, he's just looking at the two non duellists in annoyance "When he threw down his star chips, he accepted the duel." He then gives a small laugh.

"In that case Joey," Tristan wheezes as Lila helps him get to his feet, he did carry her so it's the least she can do "You're just gonna have to beat these punks. And if you're gonna need a little added motivation, try this!" He takes Joey's wallet from Lila and throws it at their friend. Joey opens it up and is greeted with the image of his sister "That's right Joey, your sister. You're duelling for her."

"Thanks, man," the two boys smile at each other in understanding.

"So what it's gonna be? you gonna cut and run dweeb, or you gonna part with your star chips the hard way?"

"Hey, I've had it up to here with your smart remarks. Spill! Who are you anyway?"

"Don't you know? They call me Bandit Keith."

"You're Bandit Keith?" Yugi asks, shocked. This is the guy Kaiba told them about. The one who lost to a kid Pegasus gave instructions to.

"I've heard that name somewhere before."

"Kaiba mentioned it last night," Lila reminds the confused girl "Remember, the intercontinental champion that lost to a little kid." There's a round of understanding noises and Keith grits his teeth, not liking the blase why that girl talked about his humiliation at the hands of Pegasus. As if he's a dumb amateur like her duelling friend.

"Huh. No wonder skull face there has outsmarted me at every turn."

"Which is why you ought to just pack it up and go home dweeb, 'cause I've given my little pal Bonz here the perfect strategy. You couldn't beat him with every card in your deck."

"Isn't back seat duelling against the rules?" Lila wonders aloud, sure she and Yugi occasionally pipe up to correct any mistakes, but that's only after Joey's already made them and they never tell him exactly what moves to make. He won't learn that way. She gets a dirty look from the black haired goon as he says "Nobody's gonna get inside Pegasus' castle except Bandit Keith and us."

"You fought your last duel, Joey. You're about to join the other zombies in this graveyard field," Lila takes the chance to peek around the goons and get a look at the field. Bonz has four monsters out, luckily she recognizes them all. Tomas isn't really as into Duel Monsters as she is, but he does play, mainly because of her constant nagging to have someone to play against and he likes to use zombie cards so she's pretty knowledgeable about them, having had to go up against them a fair bit. The giant pumpkin with tentacles in each monster is Pumpking, The King Of Ghosts. There's a creepy looking Clown Zombie and there's the green skinned rotting warrior Armoured Zombie. The scariest though the the decayed purple Dragon Zombie that's staring Joey down. That's one of Tomas' favourites and it's pretty strong anyway, forget when you add power-ups. Doesn't help that this graveyard looking field means all of Bonz's monsters are getting a bonus while none of Joey's do. They really need to start looking to find duel fields that suit them, rather then just letting their opponents pick "Come on, play your next card or rest in peace."

Joey looks down at the picture of his sister he has open on the console next to his field "Serenity. For your sake, I've gotta win!" He places a monster in defense mode.

"No! All your hopes and all your dreams will die right here!"

"Says you, geek! I'll keep my defenses up until I find a way to attack!"

"You know you shouldn't broadcast your strategy," Keith pipes in to throw Joey off "I what?" Bonz chuckles like the creepy little bugger he is "Especially when it's a losing one. Bonz has a special card in his deck that'll render all your defenses useless!"

"You gotta be bluffing. He can't possibly do that with one card," Lila winces, clearly Joey's forgotten her duel with the fake Kaiba. He managed and she's got a sneaking suspicion that Keith's talking about the exact same card.

"Oh yeah? This spell card can. It's called Stop Defense!" Joey groans. Looks like Lila was right.

"Stop Defense is big trouble Joey!" Yugi yells up and Bonz proceeds to explain the card to the more inexperienced boy "From now on, any card you try to play in Defense Mode will activate this card! And you still can't stop me from raising the ectoplasmic power of my zombies!" The pumpkin pumps something through it's roots and Bonz's zombies get bigger as their attack points rise "So noe, all that's left is to snuff the last monster you have standing. Deadly zombie breath," a brownish smoke swirls in the dragon's maw and fires at Joey's only defense, destroying it before the group can even see what it was in the first place. Keith laughs loudly.

"End of the road four you dweeb. You got nowhere left to run now."

"Don't let him scare you Joey!" Tea yells as Joey ducks his head, looking defeated. The monsters in front of him are just too strong and he doesn't have the head for strategy his friends have, it makes things look hopeless from where he's standing. Like he's let his sister down.

"Whatever he says, don't quit!"

"Quit?" that's not a word that really applies to Joey, he's more the go down kicking and screaming type "No way. I can't give up. Not while Serenity's counting on me," Joey draws "Go! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey's dragon appears with a screech and Keith has to do a double take.

"Red eye? Where'd this dork get a card that rare?"

"If all my defenses are blocked, then I'll just have to take to the offense. Red eyes, take out that overgrown pumpkin!"

"What do I do? His attack power if greater then mine."

"Inferno fire blast!" the molten orb smashes into the vegatable and shatters it and everyone cheers.

"Great work Joey," Lila shouts "That bye bye to the power up each turn! And since it was a zombie already, it can't come back either!" The creepy boy grits his teeth in annoyance, and it was all going so well, now he's down to eight fifty five.

"Minor setback Bonz. Don't forget, you still got more then enough attack power to polish him off for good."

"Yeah, okay boss. Go Dragon Zombie! Blow red eyes away!" the smoke turns Joey's dragon a sickly brown colour before destroying it as Joey calls out and Bon laughs "Even red eyes was no match for me." Joey's life points drop all the way to a hundred and fifty, that's not good.

"With that card wiped out, I'm all but done for."

"It's all over for you dweeb."

"Don't give up," even as Tristan says that, Joey looks down at his hand, no idea what his next move is going to be.

"Well, are you going to play or surrender?" as Bonz taunts their friend, Tea ducks between Yugi and Lila and asks if there's anything Joey can do. Lila frowns, when she gets in a situation like this against Tomas, she has her magic and trap cards to fall back on, but Joey doesn't really have a deck around those like she does.

"He's in a big jam Tea. Attacking the zombie army doesn't do any good, and that waiting card block all his defenses."

"Defense!" Lila says suddenly, making Yugi and Tea look at her "That's it! Joey there is a way! You've got a magic card in your deck that can turn this whole thing around!" Joey looks to his brunette friend in confusion.

"Heh. You've got to be kidding. Maybe your friend Yugi beat Kaiba but the strategy I gave Bonz is just perfect. Your friend is a goner!" Yugi joins in Lila's encouragement, he knows what she means and she's right "Joey, he's wrong!"

"You sure?" the two boys stare at each other, Joey seeing how serious Yugi's face it and nods "Ok yeah. Trust in the cards," he draws from his deck "Yeah, this is... the one." Joey looks at the card he's drawn and understands why his friends were telling him about this card. It's perfect, just what he needs besides "It's my only chance. Battle Warrior, in attack mode!"

"So it's the only move you had left huh?" Bonz taunts, thinking Joey was talking about the monster he summoned.

"And then I this magic card called Shield And Sword," Keith pulls back in shock, no way "Go! Offensive defensive flip!" The images of each monster on the field fuzz and flicker like a television having channel problems and Bonz's monsters start to slump down in place "My zombie's attack power has dropped to zero!"

"And my Battle Warrior's attack and defense points switched too. See?" now Joey's got a monster with a thousand attack points against a field of zero attack monsters, he's managed to pull off a victory, and without his time wizard "Smash those zombie freaks! Ultimate battle fist!" Joey's monster punches Dragon Zombie and it's head explodes like it's a character in a video game. And the zombie stays dead this time, while Bonz's life points plummet to zero "How could I lose?"

"You did it Joey!" the group all cheers.

"I did, didn't I?" and with pretty much no help too, sure Lila and Yugi reminded him about having the card he needed, but he was able to play it correctly without needing them to tell him how. He really is improving. Keith jumps up from where he was perched and walks away, throwing a "See ya around, loser," over his shoulder at Bonz.

"But wait, boss!" the other two also all after him but he ignores them until Joey calls out to him.

"Bandit Keith. Maybe next time, you'll have the nerve to duel me face to face, instead of hiding behind your creepy flunkies."

"Duel you face to face? You're hopeless dweeb. The game of Duel Monsters is all about keeping your opponents off balance. Winning the duel's all that matters, not how you go about it," Yugi and Lila glare at the blonde man, that's the exact opposite of how his grandpa taught them to play and it feels like an insult to hear him speak that way "We'll just see about that, Bandit Keith."

"Yeah right, I'm quivering in fear already dweeb," Keith laughs as he strolls out, followed by his flunkies.

"What a jerk."

"Guys look, I'm really sorry," Joey explains as he walks over to them "I didn't mean to drag all of you into this mess."

"Next time, don't be in such a big hurry to run off on your own," embarrassed, Joey scratched the back of his head at Tristan's words.

"Ah, it's all right. We know that is wasn't your fault Joey."

"Yeah. I mean as long as he won the duel, we can forgive him."

"Know something," Lila says, walking over to Joey, who looks at her curious "This means you've got the most star chips out of the three of us." Joey blinks and looks down at his and Lila's glove. He bet four which means... she's right. Lila's got seven, Yugi's got five and now he's got eight. Who'd have thought that would happen.

"I admit you had us worried at first."

"But you really can through this time."

"I got lucky, that all," Joey claims, not use to all the praise from his friends.

"It wasn't luck Joey. It was you determination, your trust in the cards and the promise you made to your sister. That's what helped you win.

"Guys," Lila speaks to the group, glancing around "Can we get out of here now. Please?" There's a chorus of amused agreement.

* * *

As the group all manage to back track, the straight line and lack of traps mean they are able to make good time and manage to get back to near the entrance quickly "Hey! Daylight!" They all race towards the opening, eager to get back outside into the sun, having had enough of caves for one day. But as they get closer, there's another rumbling and a shadow starts to pass over the entrance "Oh no! What's that?" Just as they get to the entrance, a boulder is shoved in front of it, blocking their escape.

"This thing weighs a ton," Joey complains as the group all try to push at the giant rock "I can't even get it to budge."

"Push harder! Come on!"

"Are we really trapped in here?"


	15. 15 Double Trouble Duel

**_First three part episode. Little peek behind the curtains. I was going to have Lila take over Joey but I wanted to write another Lila duel on her own so decided not to. Also this episode has been so hard to do because every time I try to sit down to write it, my next door neighbour decides to blast their stupid music and I can't focus and end up with a migraine._**

* * *

Fifteen - Double Trouble Duel

The boys all carry one trying to push the giant boulder while the girls take a step back to give them more room, but it doesn't look good "This thing ain't budging boys and girls," Joey groans out as the three of them take a moment to breath and the blond turns to the trio watching "Looks like we're trapped."

"Come on. There's got to be another way out of this place."

"This these tunnels run everywhere," Tea disagrees "We could be lost down here forever!"

"Forever?" Tristan says absently when a noise from Bakura's ring makes him and Lila look down at it, one of the points is glowing and tugging. The two shrug and not seeing any better options, start to walk in the direction it is pointing, too Tea's confusion as she turns to watch them leave.

"Hey! Guys? What gives?" the two pause at a divergent path and glance back as Bakura explains "It seems my Millennium Ring is tugging me in this direction."

"Why?"

"Well Yugi and I think that my Millennium Ring can detect other Millennium items, and that it's been honing in on Pegasus' Millennium Eye."

"So it could be leading us right to his castle," Yugi sums up, causing everyone else to nod and follow after the white haired boy. Even a long shot it worth trying at this point since there's no way they are getting that rock to move.

"Pegasus! I can't wait to get my hands on that creep!"

"Get in line," Lila remarks, bumping in Joey's shoulder as they walk. The group stick together, not wanting to lose anyone in their group. Who knows what other traps have been set up down here after that graveyard and those coffins near the entrance.

* * *

"So we getting anywhere Bakura?" Joey asks after who knows how long walking, all the while Tea and Lila are looking around the tunnel in confusion.

"It's like we've been walking forever."

"Instead of looking like the way out, it seems like a big maze."

"That's right. And look at the walls down here," Tea remarks. The stones are more like exposed brickwork then naturally forming cave walls "All the rocks are neatly arranged. It seems... man-made."

"It looks like my kitchen back home," Lila comments in agreement "Mom spent a fortune getting this look for the walls. Dad hates it." She runs her hand along the stone, it's smooth, no roughness or jagged edges, like they've actually been sanded down. The ceiling and floor are the same, no way it's a natural formation. There's even a painted on red stripe along all the walls, about knee height. It's weird "Is it possible someone could be living down here?"

"They'd have to be mole people."

"Look at all these corridors," Yugi comments as they come to a stretch of the tunnel that splits into three separate paths along each side "There must be a dozen different directions we could go." Bakura pauses, making every stop and look around while the leading boy looks down at his item, trying to get a feel for where it's trying to lead them.

"So now what? Which way do we go?"

"This way!" Bakura says certainly before he takes off running "Follow me. The ring is pulling me this way."

"Well tell it to pull slower," Joey complains as they all have to run after him to keep up and avoid getting lost with all the sharp turns he keeps taking without warning. The almost miss one if Joey hadn't gotten a glimpse of him before he ran past it. Then the find Bakura standing in front of a bright light that after all this time down here in the darkness, it pretty blinding until their eyes are able to get accustomed to it "Bakura! What is it? Why have you stopped." The group all come to a stop behind him, the shorter members thankful to have a moment to get their breath back after struggling to keep up with their more long legged friends. When they finally get use to the light, they can see what's actually in the room. The group all gasp, it's a wide open, brightly coloured room with a duel arena right in the centre.

"What is this place?" an answer comes from seemingly out of nowhere since there doesn't seem to be anyone else around.

"You have entered-"

"Sacred ground."

"Where only duelists-"

"Can be found," the group look around with confused expressions, trying to find who's talking as Joey comments "Yeah, well, we're duelists."

"Before you pass-"

"Across this chamber," there is a flash of orange and green as two fingers doing some rather impressive back flips suddenly appear from seemingly out of nowhere. The group watches as a pair of similar looking bald men start doing a mix of gymnastics and combat sparring. They then move onto doing a pair of synchronized back flips.

"You must agree-"

"To face the danger," the group aren't quite sure what they're watching. All the know is that it's weird and frankly makes no sense. As the land they carry on to say "So let the contest-"

"No begin."

"Notify-"

"Your next of kin."

"You're trapped-"

"And the door are all locked," they do a strange pose and slam their foot on the ground with over the top cries. They then give up talking one at a time and talk in unison "You face the brothers, Paradox!" Lila blinks and shakes her head. Seriously, what is with these two? There's been some over the top people on this island but these two are a whole different level. And annoyingly, they then go back to speaking half a sentence each. As seems to be the pattern, the orange one speaks first "Employed by Pegasus as eliminators," and is then followed by the deeper voiced green one "To take all your star chip indicators."

"You gotta duel these goons Yugi?" Joey asks with a frown.

"And if," the orange one scoff "By some crazy fluke you manage to win."

"Why then, a puzzling new test shall begin."

"For over my shoulder, you see a door. And over my brother's you see-"

"One door more," there are indeed two different doors in each corner of the other wall. Each door has a symbol matching the one of the symbols on the brother's heads.

"The test a choice-"

"That you must make."

"Which of these doors, will you take?" the brother's do a dramatic poise and point at the duel arena in the middle of the room. Lila sighs and puts a hand on to her "These two are giving me a serious headache. Can't they talk normally?" The rest of the group turn their attention to the field, noticing that it looks different to the other arenas they've seen but it doesn't look too different to really be cause for concern. Of course the brother's are still talking.

"One door leads to an endless maze..."

"Where you will wander all your days."

"The other door's the path you need."

"Choose correctly and be freed."

"But which door leads out?"

"And which leads to woe?"

"That's for you to guess..."

"And the brother's Paradox to know," well at least they seem to have stopped cutting each other off. Or maybe it's just getting to the group that they're starting to get use to how these to eggheads are talking after such a short time in their company.

"So even if Yugi wins this match, we could still wind up lost in those caves forever."

"Against us, one mere duelist would be creamed."

"So you must duel, as a team," the gives the group pause as they look at each other "Two on two?"

"Like a tag team?"

"I've never heard of anyone duelling like that."

"Me neither," Lila folds her arm and places a hand under her chin as she thinks "I have no idea how that would work. Duelists build decks that work for them but you can't know how they'll work with someone else's deck. They might compliment each other or they might seriously clash. Not to mention strategies and priorities." As she's talking, she doesn't notice Yugi's puzzle activate. The spirit places a hand on her shoulder and smiles, making her look over at him. He nods to her and steps forward.

"Tag team it is. And I'd be honored if Joey would duel by my side."

"You got it bro."

"Joey? Wouldn't Lila be a better option, she's more experienced," Tea remarks, confused, making Lila look to the other girl and reminds her "He knows what he's doing remember. If he says Joey, then Joey's it. Besides," she walks over to the taller blonde and nudges him forward "Who am I to stand between two buddies kicking some butt."

"Alright you's brothers Paradox, me and Yugi are gonna clean your clocks," Joey threatens as all four take their places at the corners of the arena making Lila groan. Please don't let Joey get caught up in all the rhyming talk, there's only so much she can take.

"Prepare to be puzzled."

"Prepared to be fooled."

"Prepare to be baffled for on this field we rule."

"I'm gonna baffle to two of them if they don't stop rhyming," Joey glares. Glad to see I'm not the only one bother by all this. The orange one laughs annoyingly "Enough of your quips."

"Yes, time to wager star chips!" Joey and Yugi both look at their gloves and remove the amount they are willing to wager, and it seems they both pretty much have the same idea "I'll throw down two." Joey slams his two onto the side of the console.

"Plus five more, for a total of seven," Yugi adds, showing his off with a little more flare.

"Agreed!"

"This is it Joey," Yugi remarks to his friend with a confident smile "If we play our cards right, we'll both have enough star chips to gain entrance into the castle." As Yugi says that, Lila looks down at her own glove thoughtfully. But then she shakes her head and turns her attention back to the duel. Watch now, worry later "The we can finally confront Pegasus."

"Right," Joey returns the grin, but after seeing the exchange the orange brother laughs and pipes up "You fool! That's why Pegasus pays my brother and me."

"To keep you from achieving victory!"

"Okay guys. Teamwork from here on out," Tea reminds then, with Tristan tagging on "Right. We'll be the team, you do the work."

"Good luck."

"Quiet fools, time to duel," then the green one takes charge, this is probably the first time he's spoken that wasn't tagged on after the orange one of said in unison "First turn honors are mine!" He does some way over the top arm movement as he plays his first card "Labyrinth Wall." That makes both Yugi and Lila frown a little in confusion. It's a weird opening move. Seeing Yugi's slight confusion, the green on chuckles. The entire field lights up.

"What's that?"

"Look the floor," Tristan points out "Something's coming out of it,"baige coloured walls start to rise up from the lines of the grid pattern that was laid out on the field "Strike that. A whole bunch of things are coming out of it."

"A maze?"

"Quiet right, and unless you can navigate it correctly, you'll be lost in it's passageways forever."

"Guess it's a good thing Yugi picked Joey," Lila remarks as she looks over the field with a critical eye, making Bakura look at her in confusion while Tristan and Tea nod in agreement. For the white haired boy's sake, she adds on, with a smile "I suck at directions."

"Now! No more questions. No more stalls. Make your move, the labyrinth calls!" the two call out but neither of their opponents make a move as they look over the field so the two brightly coloured brothers resort to taunting, trying to egg them into making a move before thinking properly.

"Hold your horses already!" Joey snaps to get them to shut up "We don't even know how this tag team thing works."

"It's simple. We all start with two thousand life points like any duel. However if just one duelist loses those two thousand points, then his teammate loses with him," Lila nods, okay that makes sense. It encourages both players to protect their teammate's life points as well as their own. Joey looks over to Yugi a little nervously. Now he's starting to feel the pressure a bit.

"The players on each team will alternate turns with every passing round. It is simple. I will play, then Yugi, then my brother, then Joey, then back to me. Now as for the actual game play in the labyrinth arena, it to is quite simple. All monsters you summon during this match will act like pieces on a game board. As for moving, each monster can move the number of spaces equal to it's power level. And while your game pieces are moving, ours will be moving too," huh, that actually sounds pretty interesting. Would be fun to try out "Finally, it you somehow manage to get past our creatures and find your way through the maze, your reward will be a choice of two doors."

"Select the correct door and find the path to freedom and fresh air."

"Select the wrong door and find only despair."

"Wow, Pegasus must have some really good lawyers. That's two eliminators on his payroll that have basically tried to kill us. And we didn't even sign a non-disclosure agreement," Lila remarks, her eyebrows raised but her words are kind of over written by Joey's annoyed cry "I've had just about enough of all your lame brain rhymin'. And what do ya mean one door leads to despair, that's not fair!"

"Ok then."

"We'll give you a clue. While everything one of us tells you shall be true..."

"The other will speak nothing but lies to you," both the spectators and the duelists are both no less confused by all this with this new addition, in fact it makes things even more complicated.

"So you see, it is quite simple."

"To learn which of the two is the right door..."

"You have only to ask, nothing more," the orange one sounds cheerfully on the brink of laughter as he speaks.

"Wait," Yugi calls out, his face serious and his tone sharp, drawing the attention to the two "What if you're lying to me right now?"

"No, I never lie," both brothers are stood relaxed, with their crossed arms tucked into their sleeves and smirks on their faces. Yugi's eyes narrow at the green one's declaration "Don't be fool! My door is most certainly the door that will guarantee you're freed."

"Liar! Mine is the door that'll grant safe passage, if they'd only heed," Joey goes quiet for a moment as he thinks over what they've just been told. Liars and truth tellers, it sounds familiar, he just needs to think of where he heard it. He closes his eyes and tries to push his brain to think.

"Hey Yugi," the spirit looks over "I think I know riddle. It starts with a fork in the road. Check this out. There's this kid trying to get to village of truth tellers, the problem is, there's a village of liars right next to it. The kid doesn't know which way to go, so he asks a villager for directions. But he doesn't know if this villager's from Truthville or Liarsberg. So the villager guy says he'll answer one question, and that's the riddle. What should the kid ask to get to Truthville? So the kid asks the guy to take him to his own village. 'Cause a truthful would have to take him to the village of truth, on account of being truthful. And a liar would have to take him to the village of truth too, 'cause that'd be lying. So first we gotta find out which one of you tells the truth."

"Then proceed," the two brothers are still smirking.

"In fact we'll allow you each one question," thinking he's got this solved, Joey smiles "Okay, like the kid in the riddle asked the guy to show him his village, all I have to do is ask you to show me your door. So both of ya, show the door that you're guarding," the brother both over dramatically raise a hand with a pointing finger before they both end up pointing the the green one's door "Bingo! Worked like a charm. Para's the liar and Dox tells the truth. Now Yugi just has to ask Dox which door leads out of here and we're set." Despite their riddle seeming to have been solved, the brother's haven't lost their grins. Yugi's quiet, looking the two over and thinking rather then jumping to asking questions "Yo Yuge," Joey looks over to his quiet teammate "How about a little something for the effort here?"

"I hate to disappoint you Joey, but I don't think we've solved this riddle just yet. In fact, I think we're going down the wrong road ourselves, so to speak."

"But I told ya Yuge, I heard this one before."

"Your riddle has some things in common with out present predicament, but there are some key differences, and trust me Joey, those key differences change the entire nature of the problem. In your riddle there was only one person to question at the crossroads, but in our situation we have two, Para and Dox. Now both Para and Dox have told us the exact same thing. One of them will speak nothing but the truth, and the other will speak nothing but lies. But there's a problem with that already. Because if they were, as they said, one truth teller and one liar, the liar could never admit to it, that would be telling the truth. The only way they could both make that statement is if they were both lying, and that means we can't trust Para, Dox or their riddle."

"Wow, my brain hurts."

"Don't worry about it Joey. That riddle was just meant to throw us off course. Let's duel now, and figure out the door dilemma later."

"Nice call Yuge. I do all my best problem solving on the field anyways."

"Now let's win this duel," Yugi draws "I'll go first, with my Beaver Warrior," Yugi's armored rodent appears next to his podium, not standing on any of the squares.

"A good choice. A rat for a maze."

"But his time's running out. This is the last of his days."

"We'll see about that. Beaver, forward four spaces, one for each of your level points," the monster pads along the first four squares his armoured feet making clunking noises with each step, he then stops.

"Now it's my turn, and I am merging Shadow Ghoul into the Labyrinth Wall itself by means of Polymerization," there is a snarl as a blotch of shadow appears on the walls and suddenly darts around them, easily navigating it's way around as it makes it's way to the other side of the field.

"What the-?" the green lizard like thing appears from the wall behind Yugi's monster, it's many red eyes trained on the little mammal's back. Seeming to sense something, the beaver turns and let's out a cry of fright "Wall Shadow, reaping claw slash!" The green creature reaches out with one of it's huge talons and easily slices through Yugi's monster "Good bye Beaver Warrior."

"Oh, it came out of the wall," Tea exclaims in shock "And now it's going back, where out guys can't get at it!"

"Very lethal."

"They're cheating!" Joey shouts, annoyed "It moved too many spaces!"

"On the contrary. The Wall Shadow didn't move any spaces. It moved on the wall."

"That's right, and the wall doesn't have any spaces."

"So you broke the spirit of the rule instead of the actual rule," Lila glares, crossing her arms over her chest "Still makes you cheaters." The brothers shoot the brunette a glare in return. This is there field, how dare she tell them what they shouldn't be allowed to do here, especially since she isn't even taking part "So now you know our strategy is unleashing a monster that you cannot see."

"You fools! You won't know when the Wall Shadow's about to land a blow."

"We'll see about that. Axe Raider in attack mode! And I'll also place one other card face down on the field. But since I can't see your shifty little monster, I can't attack it, so I won't advance at all this turn. I'll just keep Axe Raider as far away from the wall and your sneaky weasel as possible, and I'll still be ready to attack at any moment, right?" He glances over at Yugi, giving his teammate a pretty good idea of what card Joey's placed down along with his monster without it begin that obvious.

"Right. That's a good move Joey. As long as you keep far away from the wall, you can avoid any sneak attack by the Wall Shadow."

"Good move," Tea remarks, making Lila nod in agreement. Joey playing a trap, unfortunately, makes it pretty clear to her which card it is, he doesn't have that many but as a turn, it's still nothing to criticize. He's playing smart, something he's going to need to keep doing "I hope Joey can keep this up."

"Don't sweat it, with Yugi as his partner, Joey can't lose."

"I hope your right. This tag team stuff is tricky 'cause they can focus on attacking the weakest duelist first."

"You mean Joey."

"My turn, and I lay this card face down. Jirai Gumo," the name of the card makes Lila tilt her head. One because, why lay it face down if he's just going to tell them what it is and two, because as far as she can remember, that's a monster. But that can't be right. She must be remembering it wrong. With so many cards in the game, it can be hard to keep them all straight so she wouldn't be surprised "I'll also lay the Labyrinth Tank in attack mode and move it forward seven spaces." The monster is bright blue with exaggerated red drills all over the front of it. It also has two glowing lights that seem to imitate eyes. As it moves, there is a rumbling sound like a bulldozer moving across rough terrain.

"Good job, brother, that should help trap them within our maze."

"Thank you brother."

"It's my turn," Yugi draws his card and he and Joey glance at each other, seeming to have a spot of unspoken communication, clear understanding in the eyes of both teenagers "I play the Celtic Guardian in attack mode! Advance four paces into the maze." The green clad elf walks to the same spot Yugi's beaver occupied before it was destroyed.

"But the Celtic Guardian's attack strength is much lower then that of Wall Shadow's."

"Then he'll be wiped out," seeming to think Yugi's made an obvious mistake, the brothers let out a series of cries and do some more over the top back flips before the orange one speaks up with a smug smile "You fool! Did you not learn anything? Wall Shadow, attack Celtic Guardian now!"

"Your guardian is doomed," Dox remarks as the shadow rushes along the walls once again "And your life points with it." This time when the monster emerges from the wall, it shoots out in front of Yugi's monster. However before it can land a blow, Yugi smirks "Hm, I'm afraid not."

"What do you mean?"

"Kunai With Chain!" the chain blade shoots out and wraps around the monster.

"What is this?"

"My trap card worked!" Joey cheers, he's seen Lila use the card before and he was pretty sure he knew how to use to but it's still a great feeling to have done this without needing coaching "Reel him in Axe Raider!" Joey's monster is holding the other end of the weapon and tugs the shadow further out of a wall and keeps the chain taught to prevent it from disappearing back "Ha ha. The card I played face down before was a trap card, Kunai With Chain. It captures any opponent that attacks. I laid that trap card to help Yugi out. It raised the Celtic Guardian's attack power by five hundred, putting it's strength higher then Wall Shadow's."

"Celtic Guardian, attack Wall Shadow," the elf raises it's sword and slices through the beast with one swing, cutting it in half "So now it's lights out for our shadow." Para sweats as he looks at the field in shock. How could this happen? His monster was suppose to be untouchable!

"N-No!"

"Wall Shadow is beaten," the two boys say at the same time then grin at each other when they realise it. Joey chuckles and throws his friend a thumbs up as Tea cheers in the background "What a team!"

"Yeah, they're working together to beat those wacky brothers," Bakura agrees as Tristan watches the blonde proudly. Lila looks over to the pointy haired brunette and smiles a little to herself as she comments "He's doing good huh?" Tristan nods. It's clear to both of them how much Joey has actually approved. He's actually thinking his moves through and pulling his own weight in this duel.

"Aah! To stop our decline, these two we must halt!"

"Don't look at me. It's not my fault."

"If we keep this up, we'll win this double duel and have enough star chips to enter the castle. Team work Yugi!"

"Right, but we haven't won yet. We've got to keep on our guard if we're going to beat the Paradox brothers and win out way out of this twisted underground labyrinth."

"With a trap, you stopped out attack..."

"Just as you did pledge. But with out scores..."

"Ahead of yours, we still have the edge."

"We're just getting started," Joey responds to their taunts. He draws and looks at his hand, assessing the attack and defense power their monsters provide and deciding that it needs bolstering "Now my flame swordsman will heat things up. I put it in attack mode. It's power level is five, but I'll move only four spaces. I'll also move Axe Raider forward four spaces to join him and consolidate out forces. I've already used up Kunai With Chain's trap effect, but it still works as a regular accessory card, raising Axe Raider's attack power by five hundred points. Let's see you take that on you twisted twins." The three warriors are all clustered together on the same square in the maze, the elf in the front with the other two close behind like they're there to cover his back.

"It doesn't matter if your forces are one or many, for soon..."

"There won't be any. Labyrinth Tank, advance seven more spaces. Labyrinth Tank wields futuristic weaponry. You archaic soldiers don't stand a chance, and soon they will be withing striking range."

"And somewhere in the Labyrinth lurks another trap for your unwary warriors. Do you really think you stand a chance?"

"Don't you two ever stop yakkin'?" Joey asks, voicing the headaches of those watching "You're up Yugi."

"Then I play Dark Magician in attack mode. I move him forward five spaces to defend out other warriors," while the other monsters had walked to their spot, the spell caster instead decides to show off with a much smoother front flip then those done by the brothers and stands in front of the warriors with his arms crossed.

"Cool. Nice move Yugi. Now the gangs all here. They're a team, just like you and me pal."

"Right Joey. There's strength in numbers. Together they stand a much better chance of conquering this murderous maze."

"Plus they look like the cast of a pretty cool RPG," Lila remarks stretching her arms above her head as Bakura nods with a slight chuckle, adding on "Yes, if one of your monsters was with them, they'd even had the token female character to see in a lot of these groups." Over hearing the spectators, Joey and Yugi actually smile a bit. They do have a point. The brothers however, are less then impressed with their opponents line up and let out small growls of annoyance.

"We shall see about that," Para draws and pauses to smile at his card "Quit grinning and spit it out. What is it?"

"It's a magic card, and that's cause for celebration, brother."

"Right," there is then another round of flips and showing off. Lila shakes her head. The way these two always have to break away for some kind of gymnastic display they should be circus performers not duelists "Now face the wall warping power of Magical Labyrinth!"

"What's going on?" Joey asks as the entire field rumbles and shakes like an earthquake.

"The maze, it's changing," Tea gasps, eyes wide as the group watches new walls push up from the ground while others drop, creating new paths and dead ends "And that changes the whole game!"

"On no. The maze is changing shape!"

"Yeah, but what's it all mean?" a wall then goes up between Yugi's monsters and Joey's, since Yugi's Celtic Guardian was right on the edge of his square, he was pushed forward to join the Dark Magician on the fifth square while Joey's remained on the forth "That's just great. Our guys are cut off from each other!"

"Tag teams are only as strong as their weakest link, and the link that's about to break is you!" Dox calls out to the shaken Joey. The blonde draws his next card "Oh, no. Our strategy's blown."

"Don't let them rattle you Joey."

"Right Yuge. Gotta keep calm," the blonde takes a second to take a breath to steady his nerves before he carries on "Axe Raider, Flame Swordsman, advance and regroup," He uses the interface next to him to tell his monsters which path to take "The closer our boys get to the maze exit, the closer we get to gettin' outta here." Seeing the path Joey has set his monsters on has the brothers laughing as, without paying attention to the path, Joey has his monster walking right into their trap. Something Yugi also sees.

"Wait! Joey look out!" Yugi shouts just as Axe Raider steps on a floor tile with a symbol on it.

"Too late! He activated my trap," Dox shows them the monster he'd laid as a trap "And now the land mine spider attack Axe Raider." The giant spider shoots up out of the ground and engulfs the warrior within it's legs. Like a real spider it bites down and tightens it's grip as Joey's monster struggles.

"Fend him off Axe Raider."

"He's too weak. Jirai Gumo reduces Axe Raider's attack power to it's original seventeen hundred."

"That means-"

"You Axe Raider is vanquished..." the monster shatters into pixels and the spider rests on it's legs, now the traps been sprung.

"And you lose four hundred life points," both the brother chuckle as Joey's life point counter ticks down.

"Four hundred points?!"

"You're right. Joey just walked right into that one."

"Good trap my brother."

"That's just the beginning. Labyrinth Tank advance seven more," the blue tank is now in step behind the giant spider facing off against Joey's swordsman "And then I'll lay one more card. In defense mode."

"Aren't you gonna tell us what it is?" Dox just chuckles "You have enough to worry about. My Labyrinth Tank is now within striking distance of your Flame Swordsman. It's all over for him in the next turn. Then you can worry about what other surprises I have in store." Those watching can see how stressed Joey is getting as well as just how bad the situation actually is considering his monster is up against a walls and two stronger monsters. Yugi draws and gives a small smile.

"We'll counter attack. I play the magic card Mystic Box in combination with the Dark Magician," the brothers make a startled sound as the box appears on the field and Yugi's monster steps inside "I seal my Dark Magician within the first Mystic Box as swords rain from the sky!"

"Hm what this?" Dox watches as the swords easily slot into the sides of the box, where groves have been placed to allow them "The duelist's gone mad, sacrificing his own monster."

"No wait, look."

"Another box materializing around my Jirai Gumo?" with a bright light, the first box reopens it's door and the brothers let out a cry as they see an image of Dox's monster within, swords pierced through it "My spider is skewered! And his Dark Magician is-" the second box opens to let Yugi's monster step out onto the spaces between the tank and swordsman.

"Unharmed?!"

"Right my Dark Magician magically switched his position with that of your monster, trapping him in the first Mystic Box and ending my magic act," the boxes both then disappear."

"All right, let's see cue ball top that," Yugi nods "And now for his tank. Dark Magician dark magic attack." Yugi's monster raises it's staff, electricity spiking at the top before he fires black sparks at the tank in front of him, the holograms turning negative and the monster is destroyed "Let's see what that does to your life points. Together Joey and I will overcome any obstacles that you two put in our way."

"Okay dumbo duo. Now we're gonna clean your clocks."

"Of yourself, you think too much. Show them brother, our lucky touch," Dox encourages as Para draws. The orange on the snickers as he sees the card he has just picked up "I don't like it when that goon grins." Para mumbles a little to himself as he thinks about how lucky he was to pick up this card at this moment "Quit your mumblin' no hair! Just hurry up and move."

"Not so hasty. I will lay this card face down, ending my turn," a Chinese box appears by Para's gate "Intriguing eh?"

"What could be in there?"

"I don't know, but we'll bust it open and find out when our guys get there. Flame Swordsman, advance five more spaces toward the end of the maze. We're almost there Yugi."

"Now we'll test my luck," Dox draw and gives off a sinister sounding chuckle "Looks like I've double our delights," like Para, Dox also plays a card face down and a Chinese box appears, which Tea comments on, glancing at Lila, asking for an explanation, unfortunately the other girl has nothing. Yugi barely holds back a shudder as he feels the energy radiating from the boxes. He doesn't know what it is, but he does know that it can't be good "I now play my hidden card. Dungeon Worm, return to the surface now in attack mode. And I will strengthen it with invigoration, which raises it's attack power by four hundred points." The worm is bright orange and due to the magic card grows even larger. It's gaping maw it circular and ringed by large teeth with smaller ones between them.

"What is that beast?"

"It's a burrower, and it's coming for you," the worm dives into the ground and disappears, making the boys look around the field to try and see if they can spot it "Where'd it go? Where's that thing hiding?" It shoots up out of the ground under Yugi's isolated Celtic Guardian "No! Our Celtic Guardian." With the elf caught it burrows back under ground and destroys it there "Watch your life points go slithering away."

"Hey that's not fair. That creature could pop up any place!"

"That's true, this field gives their monster all the advantage."

"That's right!"

"No one escapes the Labyrinth."

"It's up to you Yuge. You're gunna have to pull a winner out of your hat."

"Great idea. I play magical hats. Hats, materialize! As for our warriors, now you see them," a large top hat with a question mark appears above the Dark Magician and drops onto him, concealing him from view, the hat then carries along the path and swallows up Joey's swordman "Now you don't." The hat then splits into four.

"Ah the hats!"

"They're multiplying, hiding all their monsters."

"Alright Yuge, that should sure confuse that slimy worm of theirs."

"And the Dungeon Worm's attack power is only twenty two hundred while the Dark Magician's is twenty five hundred. So if the wrong choses the wrong hat and uncovers the Dark Magician, he'll only destroy himself," the brothers groan as they realise what that means, but Yugi spells it out anyway "And that garuntees your swordman's safety as well, because with the Dark Magician lying in wait, the worm dare no strike any hats."

"Ha. Your little plan is no as fool proof as you think Yugi. Monster Tamer, appear now in attack mode!" the lion tamer looking monster appears.

"Hm? The Monster Tamer?"

"Normally I couldn't control the Dungeon Worm or any other monster my brother placed on the field, but by using the Monster Tamer, I can add six hundred points to the Dungeon Worm's attack power and also make the worm follow my tamer's instructions during my turn," that boosts the burrowing worm's attack to twenty eight hundred and makes it the strongest monster on the field now, negating the Dark Magician as a deterrent "Now Monster Tamer, command my brother's Dungeon worm to destroy one of the magic hats!" The tamer cracks it's whip around and they all watch the hats until the worm shoots up out of one of the middle two hats, it's maw empty "Empty hat."

"Whoa. That was close," the worm duck back under ground. Joey looks over his partner to see him staring at the hats with gritted teeth, no doubt worrying about the next attack "Don't sweat it. I got it all figured out. You just sit back and watch me and the Flame Swordsman go," Joey taps his console and his monster appears from the hat it was protected in.

"Joey what are you doing?"

"Is Joey nuts? His swordsman was safe," as Tristan says that, Lila leans a little close to get a better look at Joey's hand then she chuckles as she spots another very familiar card. That's actually pretty smart.

"Don't worry, he knows what he's doing," she defends, throwing Joey a wink when he looks over his shoulder at he and he smiles "I play the magic card Salamandra!" The brother let out a cry of fright "That's right, you oughta be scared. It juices up any fire based blade and raises it's attack points seven hundred. Swordsman, salamandra flamestrike!" The flaming lizard swirls around the red sword and then shoots off into one of the Dungeon Worm's tunnels, tracking the monster through it's burrow.

"Where is it going?"

"Good show. Not only does Salamandra increase the swordman's attack strength, but because of the worms weakness to fire, it negates the bonus points the worm got from the Monster Tamer. Returning it's attack power to twenty two hundred."

"Less then my supercharged swordsman," the worm shoots out from it's burrow, flames surrounding it's body and it turns to ashes "Your worm turns. Or should I say burns? Top that!"

"Joey, great move. Good going," along with Yugi's praise, there are cheers from those watching too. This puts the brothers completely on edge as Para turns to his twin "You must draw the card we need."

"Indeed," Dox takes his draw "Ha! The third piece! This will seal their fate," the two brothers nod to each other "The third piece, with which we'll now create..."

"A monster who will..."

"Annihilate!"

"Against-"

"The trinity-"

"They can't defend."

"All their life points we will rend."

"Summon Kazejin, God Of Wind," a third and final Chinese box appears and the whole arena starts to rumble "Uh, Yugi, what's happening?"

"Oh no. The trinity! It's in the class of Exodia," the three boxes rumble and vibrate, then, from the symbols at the head of each box, a pillar of light shoots up into the sky and spiral together as the brothers chant "Elements of thunder, water and wind, Suijin, Sanga, Kazejin begin. Meld your powers in eternal light, show these fools your unstoppable might."

"Here it comes!"

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

"He is pain beyond description."

"He'll mark the graves with your inscription."

"Gate Guardian!" the monster that appears seems to be made up of the other monster that were used to summon it and towers over the maze walls. It's appearance and strength has Yugi doing a double take "It has the strength of three monsters."

"Yeah. He's three guys in one. We're never gettin' out of this maze," Joey's starting to sound dejected but the spectators aren't sure how to cheer him up since it looks even worse to them and they have no idea what they can say to help the boys duelling.

"Now what do they do?"

"I don't know, this looks bad."

"Don't be so down beat Bakura. If they don't beat 'em, we'll never get out of the labyrinth."

"Tristan thanks for cheering me up mate," Lila rolls her eyes at the two of them, the way they're talking isn't going to help the boys focus on the duel. It's just going to remind them of the pressure they're under and they don't need a reminder, the whole duel has been one.

"So, you think you can beat us with your big multiple guy? Well we're not giving up. Let's go. Bring it on!" The two brothers laugh at Joey's attempt as bravado "You must be mad."

"No one's ever gotten past the Gate Guardian."

"He is composed of three parts, each controlling an elemental force."

"You'll never get past his combined power."

"You will wander the Labyrinth..."

"Lost for all eternity."

"Me and Yugi'll take on anything that you got!"

"Joey's right. We're a team. You'll never beat our combined power. Take your turn," the two brothers laugh again, as far as they're concerned, they've already won so this confidence is simply amusing to them. Despite cheers from those watching for Yugi to use his turn attacking, Yugi instead plays two cards face down saying "Nothing in my deck is powerful enough to attack the Gate Guardian. I can only play these."

"What a waste of a turn. You're frightened, for all you monsters are too weak to attack ours. Gate Guardian, use your immense power. Attack Flame Swordsman. Eliminate him from the field," the top section of the monster beings to charge it's power and Joey, seeing that he has no way to protect his monster, turns to his friend "This is it but, we're going down in a big way."

"Thunderstoke attack!"

"This is one lightning storm I don't think my swordsman's gonna weather," Joey exclaims as he and Yugi watch the light and wind that is gathering at the head of the guardian "If ya got any bright ideas, now's the time." Para calls for his guardian's attack again and Joey ducks his head to the side, closing his eyes "Can't look!"

"Ha! Now you see! Our Gate Guardian conquers all!" Para smirks annoyingly until Yugi speaks up "Not this turn." Para pulls back slightly in confusion as Yugi smirks and lifts one of the cards he had set, the move that they called a waste "Unless he's not effected by traps. Mirror Force, reflect his attack!" The glowing wall appears before Joey's monster and as Joey cheers, fires the elemental blast back at the towering monster but it doesn't destroy it "Gate Guardian defend, squall barricade!" The wind elemental in the centre lets out a huge gust of air to blow the deflected attack away, making the bald twins laugh "Our monster's not felled."

"You've been repelled," their words make Yugi chuckle "Yes, but your guardian has deflected my attack right at your Monster Tamer!" The twins cry out in shock as the energy from their attack slams into the humanoid monster standing at the guardian's side and destroys him "You've destroyed your own monster."

"Lucky move," Dox retorts as his brother's life points drop all the way to nine hundred, in total the two may still have a hundred life points over Yugi and Joey but it's still a big drop and the two friends smile at each other. Glad to have protected their monster and put and dent in their opponents.

"Way to play fellas," Tea cheers from the back "Keep it up and we'll be out of these musty old caves in no time."

"You got it Tea! Now it's my turn."

"Wait a minute Joey," Yugi calls his friend's attention "Don't make your move just yet," Joey blinks "Look at the Gate Guardian. It was created by combining three different monsters right?"

"So?"

"So that may be our ticket to dismantling him."

"Right. Section by section. Ok then. Flame Swordsman, use Salamandra' magic and attack the mid section!" the swordsman charges up the flame on his sword and the magical fire elemental appears from the blade, racing towards the weakest of the monsters that made up the brute in front of them "Atta boy! Scorch 'em good!" However before the attack can connect, much to Joey's shock, the bottom blue one shoots up a wall of water to block the fire from reaching it's target. The two teenagers watch with slight frowns as the fire dissipates and the guardian is left unharmed.

"You fool! Attack one section and the others will defend it. You wasted your turn. Now my guardian will lay waste to you!" Lila tilts her head to the side, so unlike the Dungeon Worm, because the guardian was made up of monsters they both control, they both get to command it, that's not good "Tidal surge attack!" The blue one changes the direction it's water fires, instead of up, it now fires it forwards, at the maze and the monsters within.

"Oh my," Bakura gasp "Dox is using the water elemental section of his Gate Guardian to flush out the entire maze. Everything in it's path will be attacked. The mystic properties of the magic hats will protect the magician, but I'm afraid Joey's swordsman won't be as lucky." Everyone watches with wide eyes as the water flows through the maze, following the route to the monsters, it harmlessly washes past the hats but the current sweeps up Joey's warrior. The sight makes Lila shudder, and she already didn't like water, that's not an image she needs to see.

"We have taken the lead," Dox taunts as Joey's life point counter drops.

"For now."

"Your Gate Guardian may have dampened the field, but not our spirits. For my turn, I lay this card face down and I call upon the Summoned Skull to finish the job Joey's Flame Swordsman started," the skeletal monster appears with a growl at the beginning of the maze.

"You must be joking!"

"That swordsman started nothing before he left choking," the two laugh.

"That's not quite true. If it weren't for him, the stage wouldn't be set for my Summoned Skull's attack!" there is a cry of fright from the brothers while those watching look a little confused. Then Tristan seems to catch on, remembering Yugi's duel with Weevil "The water! Yugi's gonna use it as a conductor for an electrical attack." The brother's look over the field and realise the position they've left themselves in "Summoned Skull, lightning strike!" The demon generates energy with a growl and directs it to the water on the ground, where it dancing through the maze as Tea says in amazement "The water's actually guiding the attack."

"Payback time!"

"Not yet. You may have found a watery trail leading back to our guardian, but you have yet to breach his defences, defences that we activate now!" despite the surety in his voice, the guardian doesn't react to Dox's command, leaving the twin's confused "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that by flooding the whole field with your tidal surge, you attacked my Magical Hats, and hidden underneath one of them was a trap!"

"What?"

"A trap that immobilises your guardian and leaves him powerless to defend himself," Yugi taunts as he holds up his card.

"No! My Gate Guardian!"

"Ensnared by my Spellbinding Circle," the golden circle appears around the green middle section of the guardian "And seven hundred defence points weaker because of it, leaving Suijin, your guardian's water elemental, quite vulnerable to my electrical attack!" the lightning form Yugi's monster reaches the end of the water and fires into the water feet of the guardian, shattering it on contact "One section down, two to go."

"Way to go Yuge! We'll have this ugly lug chopped down to size in no time!" Joey cheers with a laugh while Yugi smiles to himself. _And no more tidal waves_, Lila thinks with a sigh of relief. The other's watching all cheer loudly while the small brunette simply smiles "You did good guys," she says with a nod.

"Hey look. All the water's disappearing," Joey remarks as the holographic water starts to fade "Not only is Suijin gone, but it looks like he took all of his water with him."

"Our guardian is only damaged, not beaten. Remove trap," Para plays a spell that makes the circle around the guardian fizzle and dissolve "Even without Suijin, our guardian is still unbeatable."

"We'll see about that. It's my turn now," Joey draws, as he does so, Yugi smiles a little to himself. Teamwork has gotten them this far, he's sure it can beat their monster "All right bozo brothers! Try this on for size. The Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

"And now, with the magic of my Polymerisation card, I'll combine Joey's red eyes with my Summoned Skull," the two winged monsters are pulled into each other with a flash of bright light.

"A combo!" the brothers call out in unison.

"You now face-"

"The supreme Black Skull Dragon!" Joey calls out excitedly as their joint skeleton dragon growls loudly "Your guy ain't so unbeatable now huh?"

"Right. Let's see you labyrinth stop him," at Yugi's words, Para bursts out in laughter, with Dox joining in a moment later "What are you two clowns laughing about?"

"You fools! You think your new creature will win the match for you?"

"You're wrong. There is little that your creature can do, for there is a maze rule that you must not have known."

"A rule? Oh no!"

"Oh yes, and the rule states that the labyrinth is a no-flying zone."

"But not a no tunnelling or wall running zone? What is it with you eliminators and cheating?" Lila asks with a raised eyebrow, making the brothers growl and shoot her a dark glare.

"Aw, nuts, and my Red Eyes Black Dragon can only move by flight. These rules stink."

"Don't worry. I have an alternate plan," Yugi says calmly, to try and sooth Joey's fraying nerves. The green jacket wearing boy lets out a relieved breath "I was hoping you'd say that," he then turns to the brothers and with confidence says "Ya hear that? We got a backup plan," the only response he is met with is laughter "Uh Yugi, why don't they look worried? So what do you think the bald brothers are up to Yugi?"

"You mock us?" Lila rolls her eyes and remarks "He's been mocking you from the start you circus rejects. If you don't like it, don't make it so easy." Dox shoots the brunette another glare but she just sticks her tongue out him petulantly while Tea sighs and shakes her head, what is it with Lila and getting on the bad side of these psycho eliminators? He then draws "With this next card, I will trash your team. Riryoku!"

"Ugh. Riryoku?"

"It's all greek to my pal."

"Riryoku's a rare card that's way to over powered," Lila calls out to explain "Trust these cheats to have one."

"Riryoku's legendary power allows me to take half of my opponent's life points and add them to one of my own creature's attack points!" Now Joey can see where Lila's coming from and she's right "No fair! You might as well be stealing!"

"Stay strong!" of course the brothers decide to mock Yugi's attempt at keeping Joey's focused "Stay strong?"

"The only one on this field who will be staying strong is our Gate Guardian, for he is the one we are powering up with your life points," the guardian glows blue as it's attack points raise, one they've reached the three thousand mark, the glow fades away.

"That's like cutting their chances to win in half."

"Like I said, way to over powered," Lila crosses her arms across her chest and shakes her head. Every turn these guys are pulling some kind of bullshit, either exploiting the rules or using cards that have no right to even be in this game, regardless of who's using them.

"Luckily for you, using the Riryoku card ends out turn. But when out next move is at hand, we will use our Gate Guardian's newfound power to win this duel once and for all."

"He will turn your monsters into smears on the labyrinth walls!"

"Don't worry about them Joey. I still have a plan. First I draw. Nest step. My Dark Magician will leave the safety of the Magical Hats and return to the maze," the purple clad spell caster explodes from the hat in the corner "Then he'll move six spaces forward and out of your labyrinth!"

"You fool! Why are you moving your Dark Magician out of the maze when you know our Gate Guardian is right there just waiting to attack?"

"Does it matter? You seem certain he'll win regardless of what I do."

"Uh Yuge, not for nothing, but you want to fill me in here?"

"It's all right Joey. Trust me," the brother's laugh as Yugi's monster makes it to the end of the maze and steps out from the walls "Finally, I play this card. Reborn the monster!"

"Your plan will fail! Gate Guardian, attack the Dark Magician!" the top part of the guardian crackles with lightning while the bottom inhales deeply. The sparks travel down to surround the green orb which combines it with the air to spit out a crackling pink orb of light towards the lone spell caster.

"You attacked without waiting to see which monster I resurrected from the graveyard pile, so you couldn't know," Yugi crosses his arms across his chest "You wasted your attack," then he dramatically points at the field as he calls out "Suijin, tidal sheild!" A wall of water shoots our from the ground around Yugi's magician. Much to the shock of the brother's who watch as their attack is destroyed "Recognise the monster? You should, seeing as how it's yours." The water elemental appears from the ground right under Yugi's magician, the water fired straight up from it's maw to protect the human monster.

"He used his reborn the monster card to bring back our Suijin!"

"Only now he's not ours. He's been brought back on their side," Joey cheers as the water wall fades away "That's the play of the game!" Those watching let out their held breaths, that was too close but Yugi managed to pull it off. But can the two keep it up? "You have been lucky you little louts."

"But we promise your luck's about to run out."

"Fine," Yugi brushes off "But in the meantime, it's Joey's turn."

"Right," the blonde looks at his cards, he needs something to keep Yugi's momentum going, he draws and looks at the card he just picked up. He pauses for a moment as he thinks it through in his head, making sure he remembers it's effect right then he grins evilly "Aw man, I just got a killer idea. Here it goes. I'll use Copycat and play it as Riryoku!" Everyone, even Yugi is shocked at that, though in Yugi's case, it's in a good way, that was some smart thinking "That's right. Say adios to half of your life points, but don't worry, they're going to a good cause, my Black Skull Dragon," the dragon's eyes glow an intense red as it roars in response to the power up.

"Great move Joey."

"Why power up your dragon? He is still forbidden to fly in the maze and therefore cannot move. If you were smart, you would have used it on that treacherous water elemental, because it's him I'm attacking. Thunderstoke attack!" the green ball fires out a gust of pink energy.

"Suijin, raise tidal shield to defend," Yugi quickly commands and the water monster shoots out a blast of water to fight against the wind attack, the two cancel each other out and Para smirks "To be honest, we knew you would defend."

"Indeed. Now hit him again!" this time the top part of the guardian shoots lightning out of the Chinese symbol acting as it's face. Yugi's magician jumps from the water elemental and the lightning makes contact, sending Suijin back to the graveyard.

"What happened?" Tea asks, confused, looking to Lila and Bakura, but Lila shrugs, yeah when it comes to Gate Guardian and the cards that make it up, she's got no clue, luckily Bakura is there to explain it to the two girls "Suijin is only allowed to use his tidal defence ability once per turn. So the Paradox brothers split their attack into two waves."

"Yugi, did you really think that one elemental could stand a chance against two? That miscalculation will cost you the duel."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken," Yugi smirks in response to the orange brother's attempt at taunting "Not only did I know you could destroy Suijin, but I planned that you would."

"What do you mean?"

"Anything to draw attention away from my Dark Magician. After all," Yugi shows his spell card "If I'm to use this Monster Replace card with our Black Skull Dragon, I needed someone strategically placed to switch places with."

"No, he can't!"

"He played us for fools brother. Knowing that his dragon could not move within our labyrinth, he had his Dark Magician do it for him."

"And now Monster Replace! Exchange the Dark Magician with the Black Skull Dragon!" lights twinkle over the two monster as they fade out and fade back in, in swapped position, the magician now safely at the entrance of the maze while the mighty dragon is roaring at the two piece guardian "At first, I thought the only way to beat your Gate Guardian was piece by piece. But now, with our powered up dragon, we can finish this with on final, ferocious assault. Black Skull Dragon, molten fireball attack!" The dragon opens it's maw and a meteor begins to form, growing in size as it gains energy, burning brightly, the dragon then fires it and rapidly follows it with another two, blasting them straight into the guardian. It explodes in a bright light and as the brother's life points fall to zero, the holograms fade away "Take that."

"The duel goes to us," the watching four all cheer loudly. Then Tea pauses "Doesn't that mean..."

"Oh yeah! Ten stars!" Tristan cheers and Lila's smile drops slightly as she looks down at her still unfilled glove. Right, they have enough to enter the castle now. She shakes her head and plasters a wide smile on as she watches the boys put their newly won chips into their gloves. No, she's proud of them "All full."

"And all set to duel Pegasus."

"Not quite set," the brother's remind the two as their friends make their way over to them "Still one test yet."

"I should have known."

"What do ya mean there's another test?" Joey demands as everyone gathers on the raised podium by the two doors "Yugi and I just beat you two in a duel. Isn't that enough?"

"Enough to win our star chips, but not enough to escape this labyrinth. You still must choose a door, remember?"

"I remember. Now, which of you brothers are guarding the door that leads out of here?"

"If you cherish your lives, you will choose my way."

"Select my side or else you'll pay."

"Not this game again," Tea groans, the other brunette girl nodding in agreement "Can't you two just act normal and give us a straight answer for once?"

"I am giving you a striaght answer."

"The answer is we can't trust either of these two."

"Okay guys. Any bright ideas?" Tristan asks and Lila blinks, tilting her head to the side as she looks at the tan coat wearing boy and shrugs, saying "Call the mother ship to come pick up these two loons?" Yugi smiles and holds up two coins "We'll decide with these." The brothers both laugh and Dox asks "Okay. Heads or tails?"

"Neither," Yugi says, handing the coins to a confused Lila and motioning for her to hold her fists out in front of her. Not knowing what's going on, she goes along with it "I marked each coin to represent a different door. The coin that Lila keeps will be the door that I have chosen," a pair of large jade eyes blink as Lila looks at the spirit of the puzzle curiously. What's going on here? And why's he pulling her into this? "Ready?" The spirit moves around Lila so he's standing by her fists and he holds one hand above them, moving it between the two before he settles and opens her loose fist for her, revealing the coin marked with the symbol of the green one.

"That coin is marked for Dox's door."

"But was your choice good or was it poor?"

"What say you Dox. Shall we tell which was right?" Yugi smirks as the two brother's try to prolong the tension by bantering back and forth. With them so focused on talking, they don't see him palm at Lila's still closed first. The brunette's eyes widen as she feels him turning the coin in her hand. What's he up to now?

"In due time Para. I'm enjoying their plight."

"Come on was it Para?"

"Or was it Dox?"

"Yeah, fess up!" The brother's laugh, finding amusement in the tension from the three's voices "I say-"

"You choose wrong! It was my doorway-"

"All along!"

"So Dox's door was the right one?" Tea asks, her voice sounding devastated, Yugi picked the wrong one, now what are they going to do. Lila turns her trouble gaze to the spirit, that can't be right.

"Not quite," his remark takes the brother's by surprise and the orange one continues to insist that they've made the wrong choice "Except if we had picked it, Para's door would be the right one. You can change which door leads to which path, can't you? Ensuring that we choose wrong."

"So they are aliens?" Lila asks with a small smile that makes the spirit chuckle as Joey shouts "That's no fair. You guys cheated." _Like they weren't skirting the edge of that the whole duel_, Lila thinks with an eye roll.

"Too bad. To late. You chose a way and that means," the brother's smirk as they cross their arms.

"In this maze you will stay."

"Well actually, you never saw our choice," Yugi reminds, coming to stand next to Lila as she looks down at her still clenched fist, that's right, he said the choice would be which ever she kept. Slowly, she opens her first to show everyone the coin inside. Then her eyes widen, it's another Dox coin "I figured the two of you would pull a stunt like this, so I pulled a stunt of my own with these two coins. Instead of marking them both with just one door insignia, I marked the second coin with two," Yugi takes the coin and throws it up in the air, as it flips the two insignia's are clear "One insignia on each side. And I had Lila be the one to hold them so you couldn't call foul play," the spirit gives the now beaming brunette a wink "That way, we couldn't lose." The brothers glare at the coin as it lands back in the spirit's hand.

"Ha! Beat ya at your own game."

"Both of them. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a score to settle with your boss," the Dox door creak as it opens "All right then, on to Pegasus' castle."


	16. 16 Fairy Friends

_**Lila's opponent in this episode is a little based on a little girl I babysit. Mainly the types of monsters she uses. I had a lot of fun writing this so I hope it's liked. I actually wrote this while I had writers block working on fifteen, so I hope it all flows properly. It's also a little shorter then the last chapter I wrote so let's consider chapter five a two part episode and this one a single. It's just a bit of lighthearted fun before the next three part chapter I've got to write then the finals.**_

_**Also there's going to be a bit of a gap between this and the next chapter, I'm working over time and haven't had a chance to pre-write any more. So they'll be like a two/three week break until the next one but by then I'll hopefully have a few ready to go.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Sixteen - Fairy Friends

"We're out. Fresh air at last!" Joey runs ahead of the group, stretching his arms above his head as he breaths in the fresh air. It's a relief to be out of those musty cave and see the sky again. Though all that walking has left them exhausted. It may have been the right path, but it certainly wasn't a short one.

"All right," Yugi follow's Tea up the stairs and they realise they've come out at the edge of the woods, right at the base of the mountain. With everyone being tired and in pretty much no shape to make their way up those insane stairs again, they all decide to sit down for a moment to get their breaths back and rest their tired legs. Luckily there's a small clearing arena with some felled trees not to far that' s a good place for them to sit down.

While most of them gather close together, Lila hangs back a bit from the group, frowning a little to herself. Joey still stares at his duelling gloves like he can't believe what he's seeing.

"We did it," Joey cheers, showing off his duel glove to Tristan and the others. The all smile and congratulate him and the blonde turns to Yugi "Check it out Yugi, we're ready. We can go to the castle! We can show Pegasus what happens when he messes with us!" Yugi smile but glances over at Lila. She's sitting away from the group with a more serious expression on her face.

From her place sitting on a fallen tree, Lila sighs as she looks over at her two friends and then down at her duel glove. After that double duel with those rhyming creeps, Yugi and Joey both have their needed chips but she's still three short. However the island's been getting pretty scarce of duellists, the finals are pretty close and everyone who is left, is probably in the same boat as her. Just one duel away from having enough to qualify. She doesn't want to be holding the boys back but they won't leave her on her own just so they can get to the castle, so she needs to find herself an opponent and quick. She hops up from her spot and throws another look at her friends with a small smile. Joey is so proud of himself and it's not surprising.

As she moves to walk away from the group, Yugi turns to see her. He tries calling after her but she doesn't respond making him frown. Lila isn't the kind of person to just ignore her friends. Something's clearly bothering her and it's pretty easy to guess what it is. The rest of the group are all sitting around, glad to be taking in the fresh air so he gives them a quick wave as he hurries after the brunette. It doesn't take long for him to catch up, she isn't walking in a hurry.

"Lila, don't worry," he prompts as he falls in step with her, offering her a smile "You'll find your last opponent and we'll get to the castle before the days over."

"I just don't want you guys to hang around waiting," she explains, frowning to herself as she keeps walking, even as Yugi tries to placate her by saying "Lila, we don't mind. You've stuck by us as we've duelled and found opponents, we're not going to leave you." She offers him a smile and he bumps into her playfully, causing her to laugh a little "So where are you thinking of looking? We shouldn't go too far or the others will start to worry."

"We've been in this part of the woods before. There's a clearing with a duel arena over that way," Lila explains, pointing in the direction she's going "Last time we were here, there were a ton of people gathered and with any luck, I can find someone over there. If you want to go get the others, you can catch up." Yugi nods and falls back as he turns to head back to everyone else as Lila carries on. She tucks her hair behind her ear and ducks a thick, low hanging branch just before the clearing. The duel arena is active and it looks like a duel's just finished. The winner giggles and jumps up and down with a big smile on her face. She's pretty young, probably only a little older then Mokuba, the person she's beaten looks shocked. He's around the age of the majority of the competitors, so lateish teens, though he isn't wearing a uniform so other then that, it's hard to tell.

"That's what you get for trying to bully me just 'cause I'm small," the girl sticks her tongue out childishly then she looks over to Lila "Hi! I'm Rani!" She comes down from her podium and hurries over to the girl, holding her hand out. Lila shakes it "I'm Lila." She looks the girl over. She's got big burgundy curls that make her look taller and a pair of pink and gold dragonfly hair clips holding back her fringe. She's also got huge lavender coloured eyes. Over all, she's just adorable. Rani then look to her opponent and skips over to him, holding out her hand. He glares but hands over his star chips "Yay, just two chips left!" She looks back over to Lila "How many you got left?"

"Three," Lila shows Rani her glove, impressed by how well the little girl is doing. Rani tilts her head to the side, like she's taking a moment to think before she beams "Great! Wanna duel? Winner'll get to the finals." Lila smiles and nods.

"Sure," she chuckles a little as she talks "It'll be nice to end on something fun as oppose to a complete jerk like everyone else I've seen."

"Tell me about it," Rani exclaims "So many of the people here are so mean! Like that guy who just left. All through the duel he kept trying to trash talk and was always making fun of my monsters! It's just rude!" She pouts a little and Lila resists the urge to coo. This girl really is adorable, but she shouldn't let that distract her. This girl can't be all cuteness if she's lasted this long.

Lila and the girl have already taken their position when Yugi and the rest of the group arrive, Tristan rubbing his nose which is red and there is a little dried blood, probably didn't see that branch in time to duck, "Tell you what Lila, let's do this, if I win you give me two chips and if you win, I give you three."

"You sure? That means you've got more to lose then I do."

"Yep! I mean that way we'll have the same outcome either way," she throws the older girl a wink "Just as long as you let me go first."

"Sure, I don't mind."

"Great!" the two draw their first cards and look down at their hands as Tristan makes a remark about Rani's age "Isn't there a minimum age limit for this? I mean she's just a kid! Doesn't this make Lila a bully?" Rani rolls her eyes, obviously use to those kinds of comments and makes her first move "I play my Fairy Archer in attack mode." The monster appears in a sparkle of bright light. She's small, on the extremely slender side with bow looking golden orange wings, a matching weapon and light weight purple clothes "I'm also going to equip her with the Elf's Light magic card to give her another four hundred attack. Then I'm using her ability. I can you four hundred points of damage for every light monster I control. Right now that's one." The fairy takes aim and fires and arrow above Lila's head which dissolves into sparkles that rain down on the brunette as her life point counter drops to sixteen hundred.

"That's brilliant," Tea remarks, making the two tall boys look at her, confused "Remember, you can't attack if you go first, but this girl's still managed to deal a pretty decent chuck anyway." Yugi nods in agreement. Rani definitely knows how to use her cards. Plus with that equip, Lila's monsters won't have an easy time since none of them are going to get a power bonus from this arena. Luckily, it doesn't seem like Rani's have either "And it doesn't hurt that it's utterly adorable!"

"I summon Maruading Captain, and his ability let's me summon Fire Princess in defense mode. I'll then lay three cards face down," Lila smiles as Rani's eyes widen and she says "Three?" The brunette nods and passes the duel back to the girl who smiles as she draws. She squeals in excitement and claps her hands together as she bounces on the spot.

"Yay, I get to play my favourite monster. Lunar Queen Elizaim," the pale skinned teenager looking monster has long brown hair the falls in her face and is wearing a gossamer orange dress with glowing wings curled around her, in her hands she hold a glowing crescent moon "I'm laying a face down and powering up my queen with the magic cards Cestus Of Dagla and the Black Pendant which boosts her attack up to seventeen fifty. Now I'm using Fairy Archer's ability to deal you eight hundred damage," Lila's life points drop to eight hundred. Lila swallows, that was fast! "Now my Elizaim attack Fire Princess!"

"Activate Kunai With Chain!" the chain fires out from the ground, wrapping around the fairy to force it to the ground "Not only is your monster forced to defense, but my captain gains five hundred attack, boosting him to seventeen hundred," the chain wraps around the blonde warriors arm and his sword hilt, but the bladed part can't be seen as he is still armed with his sword "And before you end your turn, I'm activating another trap, Solemn Wishes."

"Oh, well you got me good there," Rani giggles, scratching the back of her head "That's a cool combo. Though, you need to protect your princess to keep it going."

"Yeah, but it counteracts your archer," Lila reminds, making Rani nod and let her go. Lila draws "I switch Fire Princess to attack and power her up with Salamandra," fire erupts around the female monster as her staff turns into literal flames "Oh and since I drew my spell, that's five hundred life points for me and five hundred from you," Lila's princess' eyes light up and flames surround Rani as her counter drops to fifteen while Lila's raises to thirteen "Next my princess destroys your archer, so no more effect damage." Fire Princess raises her staff above her head and lets out a cry, causing flames to surround the little fairy and destroy it, dropping Rani by another three hundred.

"I activate Ultimate Offering!" Rani smirks and Lila's eyes widen. That's bad.

"Hey Yuge, what's that do?" Joey asks, ducking down to talk quietly. It's another of those cards he's never heard of before.

"During her main phase or Lila's battle phase, she can pay five hundred life points to summon another monster and the bad thing is, like Lila's Solemn Wishes, it stays around. I wonder what she's going to play."

"I summon Dancing Fairy in defense mode!" a large flower appears on the field and blooms, revealing three tiny fairies that dance like they're playing ring around a rosie and Tea exclaims at how adorable the monsters are. so far every one of Rani's monsters have been the kind that Tea likes, adorable and seemingly non-threatening. Lila chuckles and nods "Nice. You get a life point boost as long as they are in defense mode. Well there isn't anything else I can do right now, so it's your turn." Rani draws and her life points fly up to seventeen hundred as she smiles at her hand.

"I summon my Fairy Dragon," a small, green scaled dragon with no limbs but large wings appears with a squeak "Isn't he cute? And I'm using my Ultimate Offering to also summon Wingweaver!" This fairy is human sized with long purple hair and she's dressed in a golden dress. Her skin is a pink colour and her six angel wings are pale blue. She stands at the front of Rani's monsters, the rest all curling around her "My Wingweaver has an attack of twenty seven fifty, neither of your monsters can deal with that, but since I'd rather not deal with anymore effect damage, I'm attacking your princess." When Wingweaver attacks, a pink orb of light appears in her hands she blows it at Lila's monster, destroying her. Now Lila's down to five fifty. Still Rani ends her turn and Lila's draws, that boosts her another five hundred, which she really needed. But the only card she's drawn is United We Stand, even if she uses that, she's can't beat Rani's monster, but she can do something "My Captain attacks your Dancing Fairy. It might not do any damage, but you aren't going to by able to use Ultimate offering anymore." Marauding Captain draws his sword and slashes through Rani's monster "Your turn."

"Wingweaver, destroy her captain," another orb is fired but this time it doesn't meet it's target as Lila flips her face down up "Go Negate Attack!" A barrier appears before Lila's monster, protecting the warrior from destruction. Rani huffs but then laughs nodding back to Lila.

"Phew, that was a close one," Joey remarks then he frowns "Hang on, Lila's had that set since he first turn, why'd she only use it now?" Yugi shrugs "Lila doesn't always use her traps when you'd expect her too. It keeps her opponent guessing, take it from someone whose been duelling her a long time." Lila closes her eyes, she gets another five hundred life points. That trap is a hell of a lifeline, but the fact remains, if she doesn't get right of Wingweaver, she's in pretty big trouble. She draws. Huh, her Dark Witch. That'll work.

"You like fairies right?" Rani nods "Well my favourite happens to be a fairy herself, and I think it's time you meet her. Go Dark Witch," The monster appears in a flurry of dark blue feathers and flies high. Lila can't help but smile up at her monster, always happy to see her "And while my monsters along might not be able to deal with your Wingweaver, I can power them up with United We Stand. This makes Dark Witch thirty four hundred attack points strong, Dark Witch, attack Wingweaver. Shining spear." Dark Witch charges forward, her spear lighting up and she flies right through the multi-winged fairy. Rani's on eight fifty life points now and Lila's the one with the powerful monster, but that fact doesn't last long.

"I activate, Heavy Storm, this destroys all spell and trap cards on the field," the winds whip up and the visual cues to show the effects active, the weapons on both Lunar Queen Eliziam and Marauding Captain, as well as the glow around Dark Witch are all swept away with the gusts "Next I remove my Dancing Fairy from play to special summon Silpheed. And I'm summoning Fairy Guardian. But he won't be around long, since his ability lets me tribute him to bring back a spell from my graveyard, I chose my Cestus Of Dagla, which are going right back on my Queen. Now Silpheed, destroy her captain!" The green, wind fairy raises up, his body turning into a green whirlwind which engulfs Lila's monster, destroying it and dropping her back to one thousand and fifty. Lila draws and smiles.

"I summon my Dark Magician!" her blue skinned, blonde variant of Yugi's monster appears beside her Dark Witch, making the group smile. Two of their groups iconic monster standing side by side. After the way Yugi and Joey worked together to beat the Paradox brothers, Lila's monsters are almost showing what it would be like for her and Yugi to stand side by side in a duel. Rani's jaw drops and she swallows as Lila's sad gaze falls on her queen. Her Dark Magician is strong enough to destroy Rani's favourite monster and wipe out the rest of the girl's life points. But Lila hesitates. She hates to see her Dark Witch destroyed and Rani has the same love for her monster. Rani smiles and pipes up "It's okay, I'm sure my queen understands your not attacking to be mean. And I've had fun this duel. Do it." Lila smiles, she may look like a little girl, but Rani's taking this like a true duellist. She nods "Dark Magician attack Lunar Queen Elizaim, dark magic attack!" Lila's monster nods and throw his hand out, destroying Rani's fairy and dropping her life points to zero. The monsters fade away and the podiums lower to the duelists.

Rani walks over to Lila, still smiling as she holds out her hand and drops her three chips into the older girl's hands saying "That was fun. I hope we get to duel again someday." Lila nods.

"Your very skilled and you play with your heart," Rani giggles cutely "I mean it. Don't lose that. Don't lose the love you feel for your monsters. It's the thing that shines the most when you duel." Rani nods, still smiling but her eyes serious as she says "I won't. And promise me something Lila."

"Sure."

"Kick some butt in the finals!"

"I definitely will," the rest of the group watch on smiling, glad to see that Lila's back to her old self. All it took was a duel with a special girl and now everything's right on track. Rani looks at the others in the group and looks over at Yugi. She tilts her head to the side and says "You know, I thought the guy who beat Kaiba would be taller." Yugi blushes and the rest giggle at her blase way of speaking, but that's just what kids are like "I mean Kaiba's freakishly tall but you're barely any bigger then me." She steps closer and places a hand on each of their heads, then steps back to show the difference. Lila kneels down and looks at Rani with a raised eye brow "Weren't you telling me that people were teasing you about your height before you beat them. How is that any different to you teasing Yugi."

"Right sorry," Rani blushes, looking down at her feet "Sometimes I talk without thinking." All she's doing is making herself look cuter and from a look at Tea, it looks like the teenager is going in cuteness overload. Lila and Yugi take a moment to wander away from the group, Rani seeming to quickly get along with the others as she lets Tea and Joey look at her cards while she does the same.

"Finally there huh?" Lila asks, glancing at her friends with a nervous smile "You ready?" Yugi looks up at the castle, his expression serious and he nods. Yes, he's more then ready for this. Lila swallows and gives a small nervous laugh "I don't know if I am. I hope I can be helpful." Yugi smiles "Of course you will. All of you will. I wouldn't have been able to get this far is you weren't all here." The others bid goodbye to Rani and rejoin the other two. All of them look at their destination.

It's time. They're going to face Pegasus.


	17. 17 Face Off

_***Sigh* So... sorry about the long delay. Like I said last update, working extra hours takes away writing time and I've been having a hard time focusing on writing. I've got a new laptop, finally so can't go using that as an excuse. But anyway... so my muse is a fickle thing, and as I state on my profile, I'm prone to writer's block. Plus I've been dealing with feeling off, mentally and emotionally... writing's just been hard. I've got this one done but don't have any other's written. I wanted to keep to a schedule but that obviously hasn't worked out. I'm going to keep trying with this one but I'm afraid until I get back into it, updates are going to be pretty sparse and sporadic. But even if I post a new story, don't think I've forgotten this one.**_

**_Anyway, Enjoy!_**

* * *

Seventeen - Face Off

"What's this," Bakura says suddenly, drawing everyone's attention to the white haired boy who's looking down at his ring "My Millennium Ring is pointing..."

"There," Tea points up "To Pegasus' Castle." The group has come out of the tree right at the base of the stairs. Lila pats Bakura on the shoulder as she passes him "We're heading that way anyway sweetie, no need to use the magic magufin for that this time." Bakura smiles at her light hearted teasing as he follows after the group, with Joey tacking on "Right, because the three of us all have enough chips to get us into the castle now. Isn't the right Yuge?" The tri haired boy nods, accompanied by Tea's "Finally!" The brunette then goes quiet as she looks at her friend, thinking of how far Yugi has come. Lila notices that after a moment, Tea's expression changes to one of shock as the blue eye girl suddenly remembers the dream they all had. Yugi then notices the girl staring at him and looks up from his duel glove.

"Something wrong?" Tea shakes her head with a small smile "I just wondered... do you ever feel like-"

"Hey you three!" Joey yells from the top of the first section of stairs as that the other boys have already gotten too, making Lila's eyes widen, they sure can move it when they want to can't that "What's the hold up?"

"Hurry up, or we'll go inside without you," Lila smirks at that and waves to Yugi and Tea, sprinting to catch up with the other three as Bakura reminds Tristan "You know, since none of us are even supposed to be here, maybe _we _should wait for _them._"

"Good point," Tristan acknowledges with a small chuckle as Lila makes her way up the stairs while Yugi and Tea lag behind a little longer. The longer haired girl glances behind her to see if they've started to catch up and winces as she turns just in time to see Yugi trip on a rock and face plant into the ground. Tea teases him for a moment but they're talking too quietly for those on the stairs to hear as Lila makes it up to others waiting. No sense in sprinting the whole way, they'll just tire themselves out so a break's not so bad. She shorter girls sits down on the stairs, bouncing one of her legs up and down as Tea helps Yugi get up, the two of them talking a moment to talk before Joey, impatient as ever, shouts down "Hey, do we need to carry you guys up?"

"You offering?" Lila ask with a chuckle, holding her arms up at him like a toddler asking to be picked up. The blonde playfully shoves her, making her laugh again as Tristan shouts down to the two still stood at the edge of the trees "Yeah, what's the problem? Come on!" The two finally seem to realise that the rest of the group are getting to the point where they won't wait too much longer so they hurry after them, Tea and Yugi both laughing. It makes Lila smile, maybe Yugi'll work up the nerve to ask their friend out yet.

* * *

"You'd think someone as rich as Pegasus would put in an elevator," Joey complains and Lila frowns, didn't he make that same complaint the first time they had to climb all these stairs back when they first got the the island... has it really only been two days, it feels way longer. Of course, his whining is ignored when Tristan sees someone waiting for them at the top of the final flight of stairs in front of them "Hey guys, look. You're not gonna believe who's blockin' our way into the castle."

"It's... Kaiba," Lila blinks in confusion, looking up at the taller boy as Joey asks "What the heck's he doing here?"

"I can't let you pass Yugi."

"I've won ten star chips, so stand aside."

"You may have won enough star chips to qualify for the Duellist Kingdom playoffs Yugi, but I can't allow you to face Pegasus. He's mine," Kaiba glares at the group of gathered teens "You and I are going to have one final duel. You will lose, and I will win. The winds of change are blowing Yugi Muto." As if to coincide with Kaiba's words, there's actually a gust of wind at that moment.

"He's so smug up there," Tea snipes, making Lila nod in agreement and tack on "And dramatic. If duelling doesn't work out, he should take up a career in show business." The group step forward a few steps, Yugi gritting his teeth as he says "Step aside Kaiba!"

"Not until you agree to duel me."

"Why should he?" Lila asks with a frown "He doesn't have to. He's already qualified and you're not even part of the tournament. In fact, last time we saw you, you pretty much said the tournament was a childish waste of time."

"So Yugi, you're having a girl answer for you. No longer confident your so called heart of the cards can help you win? Or are you afraid you can't beat my deck without Exodia?" _What am I, chopped liver? _Lila thinks as Kaiba ignores her to continue trying to taunt Yugi, all she asked was a simple question "That's it, isn't it Yugi? You're just afraid you can't beat me a second time, you coward."

"You back off. He doesn't have to prove anything."

"You want a duel smart mouth? I'll take you. Come on, let's duel," despite Joey's bravado, Kaiba just chuckles darkly, winding the blonde up more "Don't laugh!" He lunges forward with clenched fists to the other two boys have to hold him back from trying to start a fist fight with Kaiba, Tristan scolding him with "Joey! Down boy."

"Don't forget when you battled him before, he slaughtered you," Bakura reminds, knocking the fight out of the irate blonde as Tea watches unimpressed "Like you could do any better?" Kaiba looks at the would-be challenger, taking note of his filled duel gloves and his eyes narrow a little "Ha! I can't believe the little barking chihuahua already has ten star chips. You earn them yourself, or did Yugi throw you a few bones?" Joey growls at the dog insults, Kaiba really knows how to tick the other boy off. Lila rolls her eyes but steps forward ahead of Yugi and Joey "If not Joey then how about me? I've beaten your deck before don't you have something to prove that it was just 'cause you weren't the one using it?" Kaiba turns his attention to the girl standing with a raised eyebrow and hand on her hip.

"There'd be no challenge in humiliating Joey again or even you, there's only one player who's ever beaten me at Duel Monsters, and that's Yugi," Kaiba remarks, crossing his arms across his chest and turns back to the shorter boy "Yugi, you said you won by tapping into the heart of the cards, and for a long time I didn't know what that meant, but now, I think I do. And it took Pegasus to show me." He reaches into the collar of his shirt and pulls out a necklace like the one Lila saw Mokuba occasionally looking at, the short time he was with them, a Duel Monster's card locket "He gave me a reason to put my heart in the cards. For the first time Yugi, I can duel with fire and passion in my heart!"

"I can feel it," Yugi responds, stepping around his friend, Lila looks between the two of them and sighs, stepping back, they may like to try and keep Yugi out of trouble but sometimes that boy heads right into it, like he's able to sense things the rest of them can't, even so, Bakura still tries to dissuade him "Yugi, you can't accept this duel."

"You've already earned enough star chips to get into the castle."

"I've changed," Lila looks over to Kaiba and her eyes soften slightly, his voice sounds different, not as aggressive and taunting... something must have happened because she's pretty sure that's true "I deserve a rematch. Give me a chance to play you now Yugi. Let me play you for the right reasons," the brunette girl gives a small gasp and her eyes widen as she looks to her pointy haired friend.

"Yugi," he looks to the green eyes girl "Remember what your grandpa taught us? Can you really deny him?" Yugi turns back to Kaiba and his puzzle lights up. The spirit smiles up at Kaiba and Tea looks at the taller Yugi, slightly shocked at the sudden change "Kaiba, I accept your duel! We'll see what you've really learned. You just name the place."

Kaiba smirks "Our dueling field has been prepared," he reaches down to pick up the briefcase at his feet "Follow me." He leads the group away from the entrance and over to a walkway leading off to the roof of a seperate, smaller part of the castle that backs directly over a cliff. Kaiba and Yugi both quickly take their place on either side while the rest of the group hangs back near the walkway.

"All right Kaiba. It's time to duel."

"Yugi, here's the deal. We'll each wager five star chips on this duel, and the winner will be the only one who earns the right to enter the main castle," Yugi agrees and starts removing the wagered chips from his glove. The two then throw them into the space between them "We'll use my duel disk system. Insert your shuffled deck into the card recognition slot," that's the bit attached to his arm "Life points automatically set to two thousand."

"Take him!" Joey encourages "You did it once Yugi, so we know that you can do it again!" The others shout their agreement.

"All right. Are you ready to duel Kaiba?"

"This is it Yugi, whoever wins faces Pegasus and whoever loses, well, you'll be left a broken man."

"We'll see who get broken Kaiba," Lila frowns at that, that doesn't sound like Yugi, or even the spirit, normally does during a duel "I will defeat you once and for all!" The duel then starts with Kaiba taking the first move "Stand back and prepare for battle. I play Ryu-Kishin in attack mode!" Kaiba throws his disk and the red armored creature appears with a roar. Then images of the cards that no doubt act as the player's hands appear in front of him, which Tea points out to the rest of those watching. Lila looks and raises her eyebrows, holograms of the hand too, that's impressive but it makes sense since you can't exactly hold a hand properly and throw the disk without risking loosing a card or showing it to your opponent.

"On your guard. I play Curse Of Dragon in attack mode!" it's Yugi's turn to throw the disk and have his monster appear. After his duels with Weevil and Panik, the group reconigse the yellow dragon when it appears and then it is followed by his own holographic hand appearing.

"Well done. A formidable card Yugi, and a play I would expect from a duellist of your calibre."

"Don't patronise me."

"Yugi, I know from playing you you're a talented duellist, but you're just not as good as I am. Listen up. Only one duellist is gonna challenge Pegasus and that's me!"

"Wrong," there's clear tension and aggression in Yugi's voice while it's Kaiba that's being the more calm, collected one, it's weird, like their personalities have... well not switched but they've certainly changed, even if Kaiba is still acting like a jerk and a snob as he goads his opponent "Then attack and find out. What's the matter Yugi? No faith in your monster?"

"You'll see. He's mightier then yours. Go Curse Of Dragon! Attack Ryu-Kishin! Dragon flame!" Yugi's dragon flies up and lets out a breath of flames onto Kaiba's monster, turning it black as it chars then destroys it "There. Ryu-Kishin is no more." Kaiba loses four hundred life points with that attack, a reasonably sized lost, especially for the first round. The disk goes flying back to him, phasing through the holographic cards.

"Hm," he smirks "You're good but oh so predictable. Don't you think I expected that attack? And once again, you've played right into my hands Yugi."

"He's bluffing. You already got Kaiba on the ropes!" Joey calls out while Lila frowns and rests her knuckles on her chin thoughtfully. That might not be true. Kaiba was pretty eager to goad Yugi into attacking, and weirdly, Yugi fell for it, taunt like that don't normally get to him, the duel with Panik was a good example, he didn't fall for the taunt, he just returned them and turned the duel on it's head, so why is he acting this way? Still, Joey is oblivious to the brunette's thoughts as he continues to cheer "All right! Go Yugi!"

"It's not a bluff, as you will all soon see," Kaiba draws and smiles when he looks down at the card, instantly playing it "I play Swordstalker!" The weird, demonic looking warrior is bright purple and barely passes for humanoid, he also wields and impressive looking bronze blade "The Swordstalker gathers the life force of a fallen ally, raising his own attack power by twenty percent. Watch." A spectral version of Kaiba's last monster appears and wraps around the new one's sword, acting as a power up similar to cards like Salamandra. Yugi's eyes widen as he realises that Kaiba's right, he did just walk right into his trap. Kaiba let a weaker monster be destroyed to make an already strong monster, even stronger. Strong enough to wipe out Yugi's dragon "Attack now Swordstalker! Vengeance Strike!" The warrior lets out a strange, animal like howl as he races forward and lifts it's sword above it's head, using both hands to slice through Yugi's monster. But before the blow can land, a yellow light appears around Yugi's monster and it vanishes "What? The Curse Of Dragon Disappeared!"

"That's because I laid a Monster Replace magic card on the field," the card in question spins around from in front of Yugi, showing it's the same small card that he used in the tag duel to swap Dark Magician with Black Skull Dragon "This card switches the monster on the field with the monster in my hand that has the highest attack power, and you know what that means. The creature with the greatest attack power in my hand, is the Dark Magician," who appears before Yugi, already poised to deflect Kaiba's attack "Dark magic attack." The spellcaster fires energy out of the head of it's staff and destroys the purple warrior, taking another hundred life points from Kaiba "The Dark Magician vanquishes your Swordstalker." Joey cheers again and decides to try his hand at taunting his friend's opponent "Hey Kaiba, Yugi but the moves on you again!"

"Clueless," Kaiba responds, not at all phased and then carries on talking to himself, but it's so quiet that no one else can hear exactly what he's saying "If those fools only knew what I have in store."

"Now I can re-play Curse Of Dragon in attack mode," the dragon's card spins around and he reappers on the field "Your move Kaiba." Kaiba's hand disappears as he says "I'll take on your magic with a magician of my own. I summon La Jinn, The Mystical Genie!" the green genie appears with a deep chuckle, head slightly bowed and arms crossed, looking for all the world like the evil brother of Aladdin's blue friend "My wish is his command."

"Dark Magician, attack La Jinn! Dark magic attack!" Yugi's magician charges up the energy in his staff but Kaiba interrupts "You attack activates my trap, the Ancient Lamp!" A trap card spins around with an image of an old gold lamp then the card lights up and the lamp pictured on it appears, and slowly starts to suck the green spellcaster inside "First it protects my genie by drawing him into the lamp."

"What?!" but Yugi's monster still continue's it's attack, despite it's target no longer being there "Then the lamp deflects your attack, turning it back on your monster." The attack lights up on the lamp but then it blasted back and destroy's Yugi's dragon "Which lowers your score to equal mine. Reflect upon the incredible defensive powers of my Ancient Lamp!"

"My deflected attack may have destroyed my Curse Of Dragon, but I still have the Dark Magician. Kaiba, for all your bragging, the score is tied. We're evenly matched."

"This is way to intense," Tristan says with a swallow as he looks over at the two duellists, both of them are staring each other down without even a hint of enjoyment on their faces, completely serious "Remember Tristan, Yugi beat Kaiba once before."

"I'd like to beat Kaiba."

"What's with Kaiba anyway?" Tea asks with a slight frown, unlike Lila, she can't see any change in Kaiba from before. She glances over at the other brunette who seems to be ignoring the rest of the group in favour of watching the turns with her arms crossed over her chest. The duels been progressing quickly, despite the taunts, there's none of the toying with his opponent that Kaiba's known for, it's all to strange. Lila sighs and shakes her head. Tristan was right, this duel is way more intense then usual.

"What's the matter Yugi? You look a bit worried. Finally realising that without your precious Exodia cards you don't stand a chance against me?"

"I won't need Exodia to defeat you Kaiba."

"If I keep drawing card like this you will," Kaiba remarks with a smirk as he looks at the card he's just drawn and places it on his disk "I arm my genie with the De-Spell card. The De-Spell card can deactivate any magic card and that's a loss I'm quite sure you can't afford Yugi. La Jinn, my Mystical Genie Of The Lamp, activate De-Spell," the green genie pushes his hands forward, palms out stretched with his fingers splayed out as energy crackles from them.

"Oh no! My cards!" the blast explodes forward and shatters the spell on the fair left, making Lila tilt her head, so are those cards not the hand? They're the back row... but didn't Yugi's Dark Magician appear from there. She shakes her head, these new duel disks make it hard to tell "De-Spell has destroyed your Swords Of Revealing Light. That's a tough loss Yugi. Your swords could have paralysed my monsters for three turns, but I guess now you'll just lose three turns sooner."

"Don't count on it Kaiba."

"That genie's big trouble, but as long as he has the lamp to hide in, Yugi can't touch him."

"Is there anyway to destroy the lamp?"

"Well I'd use MST," Tea looks at Lila in confusion "Mystical Space Typhoon, or really any card with a similar ability, but it's a matter of if Yugi's put them in his deck and if he has, he still needs to draw them." Yugi draws and looks at his card, Lila's not wrong but he thinks this card might be able to help so he plays it on the disk "I call upon the Dark Magician!"

"I'm surprised you've put your magician at risk Yugi, when you have no idea what I have in store for you."

"Then perhaps before I attack, I should see what you're planning for myself," one of the cards starts spinning, startling Kaiba "Behold my magic Eye Of Truth! So called because the Eye Of Truth knows all, sees all and it will reveal every card in your hand." The holographic cards flip around to face Yugi, which makes those watching even more confused but at this point they've given up trying to figure that part out. The cards shown are De-Spell, Saggi The Dark Clown, The Ancient Lamp and Blue-Eyes White Dragon "What's this? You've got a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in your hand but you haven't played it yet?" Lila's eyes widen, why wouldn't have played his favourite monster? Sure she sometimes holds back on throwing out her Dark Witch, but that's because unlike Kaiba's dragon, her witch isn't an almost guaranteed power house against anything the opponent throws out. _Think Lila think, _she scolds herself _You know this one. What reason would there be to try and keep the dragon secret? Dammit! _She knocks gently at her head, trying to get the thought to come through, she's got a vague impression that she should know this but it just isn't coming through.

"You can always count on Kaiba to have a Blue-Eyes White Dragon or three up his sneaky, slimy sleeves," Lila turns her attention to the blonde and gives him a gentle shove "Joey when you complain like that, you sound jealous. Kaiba loves that card, of course he's going to keep it close or have more then one." Joey pouts while Bakura latches on to a different part of what Joey said "Three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, that's got to be nearly impossible to beat."

"Nah, Yugi's done it before, hell so have I," Lila shrugs, turning Bakura's impressed gaze on her. She mentioned beating Kaiba's deck before but he hadn't thought she's have had to go up against his famous dragons, the girl is more impressive then he thought.

"So Yugi, the mundane magic of your wimpy Eye Of Truth allowed you a sneak peek at my hand, but what good does it do you? The fact still remains that your Dark Magician can't do anything against me genie, La Jinn. Not while he has his lamp to protect him."

"Then I'll extinguish it! Through the magic of my Mystic Box! Now watch closely Kaiba, as first, my Dark Magician is sealed within the box."

"A trick!"

"It's much more then a mere magic trick, as you're about to find out Kaiba. Now watch and be amazed as the Mystic Box is skewered! But have I destroyed my own Dark Magician?" as with the Paradox brothers, the black box the appeared around Yugi's monster is run through with knives but as the door opens, it's not the monster that's there, but the image of one of Kaiba's cards "Or have I magically extinguished your Ancient Lamp, just as I promised?"

"No! You've destroyed my genie's lamp."

"And the magic's only half done Kaiba, for my Dark Magician emerges from the Mystic Box unharmed."

"But how?"

"You know a good magician never reveals his secrets," as Yugi says that, the smug looking purple clad spellcaster wags his fingers at Kaiba "Now Dark Magician, dark magic attack!" Yugi's monster attacks the genie from behind, destroying it.

"No, my genie!"

"It's just as you said Kaiba, the Ancient Lamp may have protected your great genie La-Jinn, but once it was destroyed, your genie was no match for my Dark Magician."

"You little magic show may have been entertaining, but let's not lose perspective. You know I've got a Blue-Eyes waiting in the wings, and I know you have nothing that can stand against it."

"You _know _nothing. The Eye Of Truth showed my your hand, not the other way around."

"I don't need to see your hand. But I think you need to be taught a lesson, and I'll be happy to make my next play painfully instructive," Kaiba takes moment to play a defensive monster and another card that Yugi can't see "Behold. Saggi The Dark Clown!" The creepy clown appears with a creepy laugh that makes Lila shudder _What is it with Kaiba and that gay clown?_

"Saggi The Dark Clown?" Yugi looks at the monster with confusion. Still no Blue-Eyes, instead Kaiba plays a monster he knows he weaker then Yugi's, suspecting a trap, Yugi recalls his disk and draws a card he looks at the monster. It's Gaia, looks like history is going to repeat itself and have the warrior destroy the clown for a second time "Gaia The Fierce Knight in attack mode!" the purple steed whinnies loudly as it is appears and the warrior races towards Kaiba's clown. It pierces the monster, which explodes into pieces "Your dark clown has been vanquished Kaiba!"

"Vanquished and sacrificed are two very different things Yugi. Look again," the pieces of the clown quickly turn into purple sprinkles, like the toxic spores of a plant or fungus.

"No! What's happening?" the horse whinnies as Yugi's monster starts to fizzle before evaporating into dust "Gaia!"

"Not just Gaia Yugi," the card for Yugi's Dark Magician, which he had withdrawn to try and protect from the possible trap lights up "No! My Dark Magician!" it to fizzles to dust "What have you done Kaiba?"

"It's really quite ingenious actually. Knowing that you couldn't resist attacking my dark clown, I infected him with the Crush Card Virus."

"A crush card?"

"By destroying the infected Saggi, you released the Crush Card Virus, a virus that is so highly contagious to Duel Monsters that even as I speak these words, it is infecting all but the weakest cards in your precious duelling deck."

"No, my cards!" Yugi looks down at his duel disk that that lit up in certain places and has a flashing virus on the life point reader to show to effect of Kaiba's card. Kaiba laughs "The only monsters unaffected by the Crush Card Virus are those with an attack power weaker then fifteen hundred. Looks like I've broken the heart of your cards Yugi."

"Well played. But it will take more then a virus to win this duel Kaiba!"

"Yes, I expect that it will Yugi. Actually I'm looking forward to subjecting you to a wide array of debilitating cards."

"Keep talkin' the the talk big mouth Kaiba. Just don't forget that Yugi beat you last time."

"Yeah, and now Yugi's an even better duellist."

"Yes but last time he didn't have a Crush Card forcing him to play just magic cards and weak monsters," Bakura points out. Lila nods in agreement, thinking on her own deck. While she doesn't exactly fill it with powerhouses, a lot of her monsters would fall on the brink of the power limit that virus allows.

"You're kiddin'. He's only allowed to play magic cards and his wimpiest creatures?"

"He'll still win!" despite her voice sounding confident, anyone who even glances at her expression can see that Tea's worried.

"Your turn Yugi. Let's see how your disease ridden deck serves you now."

"You may have infected the body of my deck Kaiba, but it is the _heart _of the cards that will see me through this contamination," Yugi draws and Lila looks over to watch him as he looks at the card. For a moment his eyes light up then they dark slightly. Must have drawn a powerful card, which means it's useless right now. Kaiba clearly notices this and pipes up once again.

"Face it Yugi. To continue playing in this duel, you'll have to serve up your weakest monsters," despite wanting to retort, there is much Yugi can say when his opponent is speaking the trust. All he can do is play a card to keep the duel going "Silver Fang! Defence mode! And his attack points are low enough to make him immune to your virus." Yugi's wolf appears with a growl, golden eyes gleaming "Your turn."

"Ironic that a wolf will be the first of your sacrificial lambs, but so be it," Kaiba draws then smirks, for him it was the perfect draw, one of the cards he's been waiting for, putting him one step closer to going through with his plan "Battle Ox awaken and let loose the dogs of war!" The angry bull from Kaiba's duel with Joey appears making the blonde take a step back, he hates that thing "Axe slam attack!" The cow charges forward and cuts down Yugi's wolf, upsetting the natural order of predator and prey, but at least Yugi's life points didn't take a hit "Your puppy has been put down."

"It's cool," Tristan shouts, trying to be encouraging "Just a minor setback, no big deal."

"Your pitiful defences can't even withstand the crude assaults of my Battle Ox," Kaiba declares loudly with a laugh "How do you expect to protect your life points when your defences are demolished and you have nothing left to shield you against my even more powerful monsters? I guess we'll find out soon enough. You should accept your fate for now Yugi. After all, you'll have the rest of your entire life to brood over this defeat." Yugi does his best to shake off Kaiba's taunts as he draws and plays his next monster "Griffore! Go! I summon you! Let's see you deal with this attack Kaiba."

"A Griffore. I think you've made a grave miscalculation Yugi," Kaiba remarks with a smirk "His pathetic defences are no match for my Battle Ox." Yugi chuckles "Whoever said that I was going to be playing him in defence mode Kaiba?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm attack with my Griffore," one of Yugi's card spins around to reveal the equip spell "With the help of my Horn Of The Unicorn. Magic lightning combo attack!" The horn appears on Yugi's monsters and crackles with a dark purple energy that it fires at Kaiba's barnyard reject "Your Battle Ox has been destroyed."

"All right! I'm feeling a comeback in the works," while Joey cheers, joined by the others, Lila lets out a relieved breath, so there is a way for Yugi to get out some stronger monsters. Combining the weaker ones with magic cards. That's good to know. And with Kaiba on only six hundred, if their friend can keep it up, they might not have to see Kaiba's dragons this duel.

"Impressive Yugi, using a combo attack to combat the perils of my virus. But I'm afraid that there are some hazards in my deck that are simply inevitable. It's my turn now. Prepare yourself for ultimate annihilation Yugi. But first, I'm invoking the Mystical Elf," the image of the blue skinned lady appears behind Kaiba and chants a soothing spell "You see Yugi, if there's one thing I've learned in my matches with you it's that you have an uncanny ability for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat," glittering golden sparkles appear from the female spellcaster and twinkle down over Kaiba "But I don't intend to give you such an opportunity today. Which is why I've summoned the Mystical Elf to reinforce my life points by three hundred." Lila watches as Yugi frowns. No doubt the spirit is thinking about how differently Kaiba's dueling. Like he's had each and every step of this duel planned out in advanced "Behold the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Well there goes that hope of Lila's. Everyone gasps as the dragon appears with a roar "Now Yugi, your fate belongs to me. Take flight Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Rise!" A cloud of dust appears as Kaiba's dragon beats it's wings and lifts itself into the air "Go white lightning attack!" As the dragon gets higher, it gathers energy within it's maw and blasts it at Yugi's monster, obliterating it completely "Already my Blue-Eyes has you cowering. And this is only the beginning. Soon, you will know what fear is."

"I don't fear your Blue-Eyes Kaiba," Yugi declares as he plays his next card "I've defeated him before. And with my Giant Soldier Of Stone Guarding me, I'll manage to defeat him again."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. Yugi, when you battled my Blue-Eyes before, they were three separate dragons. Formidable yes, but not invincible. But now I've found a way to merge their power, combine their attack points to create a monster with power beyond imagining!" the image of three cards appears before Kaiba and they flip to show the other two Blue-Eyes cards and a Polymerization card, all of which light up "Now I create a Duel Monster without peer, with attack force so great that no monster can stand against him." There is a golden beam of light that envelops Kaiba's dragon and the silhouette changes from a single headed beast to one with three, it's body and wing span far larger then before. And when the light fades, the Blue-Eyes heads, though similar to the original are sharper and more aggressive, each with a strange symbol on their forehead "I create the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Everyone watching is taken back, Lila swallows and glances at Yugi nervously. This is not good, how's he going to deal with this? Kaiba laughs victoriously "Yugi Muto, there's no escape. Nothing can save you now."

"That monster's attack points are off the charts."

"Yeah, how could any creature in Yugi's deck beat that thing," Joey glances over to Lila, hoping she'll have some idea but she shrugs, biting at her thumb. She wishes she knew but right now, she can't think of anything.

"That Kaiba! He's been setting Yugi up for that beast this entire time!" pretty much everyone watching, even Yugi himself, can't argue with Tristan, he's right. Kaiba had each and every turn planned out from his Crush Card to holding back on his dragons until the last minute "Yugi, how I savor this moment. This is the moment I've been waiting for, ever since you handed me my first and only Duel Monsters defeat. Prepare yourself to see the power of my creature unleashed. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, neutron blast attack!" The three dragon heads all turn and in between the three of them, they charge a sparking ball of energy that explodes into a stream of brilliant white, firing towards Yugi defensive monster.

"No! My stone soldier!"

"You're lucky your stone soldier was in defence mode."

"Whoa! At least Yugi didn't lose any life points."

"But he can't win the duel playing defensive the whole time, eventually he's going to have to try and attack," Lila reminds Joey, worried when she takes in the actually scared expression on the spirit's face. And she thought nothing could shake him in a duel, this is really bad.

"My Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon atomised your creature to dust Yugi. You know you have nothing to stand against it. You should concede," the worry is getting to him as he glances over at his friends, his hand shaking visibly as he moves to draw.

"No Yugi."

"You can win this."

"That's right. We all believe in you," the three cheer and Lila nods, speaking up "Remember what you're fighting for! Your Grandpa!"

"You've never let anyone down before, and I know you're not gonna let your Grandpa down now!" Joey reassures their worried friend. The mention of his grandfather seems to give Yugi the shock he needs to snap out of his nerves. With renewed confidence, he readies to draw "No Kaiba. I will never surrender to the likes of you."

"That's it! That's the kind of determination I expect from you. Fight on. Gather every last bit of your strength Yugi. I prefer to take you down when you're fighting your hardest," Kaiba smirks, happy that his opponent didn't choose to give in and take the easy way out. As Yugi moves to draw, all of his friends think similar things, they mentally wish him luck and encourage him to keep going. Joey even going so far as to shout out his encouragement, though that may have been accidental, it's hard to tell with the blonde "It comes to this. So draw your card and face your fate." Yugi closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as he draws.

"Let's finish this Kaiba!"

"It doesn't matter what card you play next Yugi, you have nothing that can withstand the phenomenal attack strength of my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. You might as well give up."

"That ultimate dragon can wipe out the rest of Yugi's life points in one breath," Joey remarks nervously, though he keeps his voice down, not wanting his friend to see how nervous they all are "Kaiba has the upper hand and he knows it. He's just waiting for Yugi to back down. I don't see how Yuge can pull this one out." Yugi looks at the card he's just drawn and makes a slightly shocked noise. Kaiba takes note of Yugi's change in expression as the boy starts laughing and looks confused and slightly wary "Kaiba, I just drew the card that will defend me against your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

"Impossible."

"Watch and learn," looks like the spirit's more cocky nature is back, it's actually refreshing when compared to the worry from before "This is it! The beginning of your defeat! Kuriboh in attack mode!" At seeing the brown ball of fluff, Lila let's out a coo, that has the boy's looking at her strangely but she ignores them, so she likes Kuriboh, sue her, it's cute, especially the adorable warble it lets out.

"That's ridiculous. In the entire game, Kuriboh is the weakest monster."

"He's right. What can Yugi be thinking, playin' that little guy?"

"Yugi," Kaiba chuckles "You're free to concede and forfeit the match. But come on. Don't embarrass yourself by playing that runt of a monster," at the insults, Kuriboh's eyes narrow and it lets out an annoyed warble "You must know that's the puniest monster with the lowest attack points in all of Duel Monsters. I've never known a serious duelist to even keep one in their deck. Yugi, don't insult my intelligence pretending that miserable creature can defend against the unbridled might of my ultimate Blue-Eyes." But despite Kaiba's insults to his monster, Yugi just smirks.

"Kaiba, you're mistaken. This card will defend everything. And, before this duel's over, your dragon will fall!"

"My ultimate dragon?"

"No your Baby Dragon," Lila shouts, rolling her eyes, making the spirit shoot her an amused glance, which she responds to with a playful wink. So she enjoys riling people up, it's a talent, may as well embrace it. Kaiba ignores her though "Hurry up and finish your turn so I can knock the stuffing out of your Kuriboh and win the game."

"As you wish!" a card in front of Yugi spins around "My last card will be the magic card Multiply! Multiply works with monster with attack power below five hundred and multiplies them endlessly," dozens of Kuribohs appear on the field, each warbling and Lila looks around them with a big smile, even going so far as to try and grab one that appears near her, which leads to her pouting when her hands just pass right through it and Tea chuckling "More then you bargained for, eh Kaiba?"

"So is this some kind of a joke?" Yugi laughs "The joke's on you Kaiba. When you attack you thought I only had one defender, but now I have many. And I'm getting more and more defenders by the second."

"No matter. Have you forgotten the incredible assault power my dragon possess? It'll burn 'em to a crisp. Neutron blast!" once again the three dragons come together to fire a blast at Yugi's monsters "So there!" Kaiba spits out as smoke rises to surround Yugi's field. However the smoke clears and the remain Kuribohs warble as they are joined by even more copies "But wait, what's going on here? My dragon's attack had no effect on your life points at all, and those annoying creatures continue to multiply."

"That's right. You can't take my remaining life points away Kaiba, until you wipe out all the Kuriboh. But as quickly as you destroy them, they multiply right back."

"Hairballs! For each one I destroy, two more take it's place."

"That's right. Kaiba, you may have created the ultimate attack monster, but I've created the ultimate defence, an ever expanding army of furry protectors. They may not look like much, but they've stopped your dragon in it's tracks. That's just the beginning. For now I go on the attack!"

"You've nothing strong enough."

"Watch me. For I'm going to show you the combo that will bring your dragon down. Mammoth Graveyard, Polymerization and the Living Arrow card," as Yugi says their names, the three card each spin around to reveal themselves.

"What's a Living Arrow card?"

"Living Arrow allows me to use my other cards in combination not with my own cards, but with my opponent's monsters. I'll show you. Normally I make a fusion with my cards, but for a new twist, Living Arrow lets me fuse my cards with your cards, opening up bold new possibilities," the cards fall into a line with the monster at the front which lights up as the elephant skeleton appears and rushes towards Kaiba.

"Now what?"

"I can use the magical power of the Living Arrow to bond my Mammoth Graveyard to the heart of your beast," the monster turns golden and the glow changes into an arrow, which shoots towards Kaiba's dragon. It rears back with a roar of pain as the head of Yugi's monster appears from it's belly, surrounded by a sickly, burgandy, flame like aura.

"No my dragon! What have you done?"

"Since my Mammoth Graveyard is an undead type monster, he can't properly fuse with your living ultimate dragon. Instead it causes your monster to rot and decay from the inside out," the aura flames cause off coloured smoke to rise from below the dragon's shimmering scales "Each turn, your ultimate dragon will lose attack points, until your creature is no more. Your so called ultimate dragon, and your victory, is rotting away Kaiba. It's only a matter of time now. And there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"There must be something I can do to save my ultimate dragon."

"My Mammoth Graveyard has attack points of twelve hundred. That means that each turn that goes by, he drains twelve hundred points from your ultimate dragon's attack power. Soon it will be weak enough for me to destroy," Yugi gloats smugly as Kaiba looks at his deck with gritted teeth. Lila swallow the bile threatening to rise in her throat as she watches as the dragon slowly starts to drip. Every so often it moves slightly and she swears she can see the holograms bones and moving flesh. She shudders and looks away, not wanting to see the beautiful dragon like that. It's funny. After her duel with the 'ghost' Kaiba, she's had a new respect for the Blue-Eyes and doesn't like seeing the pain it's probably in. It makes her a little sick to her stomach. No doubt the sight of his favourite monster like this is even worse for the brunette boy duelling. The three headed dragon gives off a weak growl that makes the green eyed girl's heart ache. She doesn't join in with the smiles and cheers from her friends. She is glad Yugi's still in it, but she doesn't have it in her to be happy about what's happening on the field. Kaiba mutters something to himself that the other's can't hear, but something is clearly bothering him, more then just what Yugi's done to his dragon as he calls out "Attack now ultimate dragon! Neutron blast!"

"Again?" it has the same effect as last time, it takes out a sizeable chunk of the furry little balls but they quickly refill and Yugi takes no damage "When will you learn? The Kuriboh multiply faster then you can eliminate them with your neutron blasts.

"No. I will not, can not be defeated."

"I'll draw one more card and let my mammoth finish my turn."

"Go, ultimate dragon! Neutron blast!" Kaiba's voice is desperate now as he keeps commanding his dragon to attack, but to no avail.

"Once again your attack has failed Kaiba. My defence holds. And you have no other strategy to use against me. Your time is running out," Kaiba's body is shaking and his face is gaunt, lifeless as he watches his attack fail to break through Yugi's wall "You should never have challenges me Kaiba. You see? My mammoth takes another twelve hundred points from your dragon. Even my weakest monsters can destroy it now." Kaiba is quiet for moments as everyone watches. Then his eyes focus but they don't hold the same strength as before and he glances down. His dragon gives a weak growl that has Lila shaking her head and covering her eyes. Tea glances at the other girl in confusion but doesn't say anything as she turns back to watch Yugi, though she does keep glancing at her. On her other side, the two taller boys are both having a poke at Kaiba's silence.

"What's with Kaiba? He's just standing there spacing out."

"Maybe it's finally sunk in that he's lost."

"True. In just a minute it will all be over. But it's almost sad to see a player of his calibre take losing so hard," Yugi pulls his disk back and draws, knowing that at this points, as long as it's a monster, he can take the dragon down. Maybe once the suffering dragon is gone, Lila will be able to enjoy watching the rest of the duel pan out "This is it Kaiba! Prepare to meet your demise! Celtic Guardian, attack ultimate dragon!" The elven warrior leaps into the air and slices clean through the neck of one the dragon's heads, dropping the severed mass of melting flesh to the ground as the watching boys cheer until they realise something.

"Hey, the ultimate dragon's still standing. What's up with that?" Lila speaks up, her voice shaky as she refuses to glance away from the ground "The dragon's made up of three Blue-Eyes. Each head is basically it's own monster so despite everything the poor things gone through, in order to end it, Yugi'll have to destroy each of them."

"But when the Celtic Guardian destroyed one of them, Kaiba took the five hundred points difference in their attack strength," Bakura tacks on, moving around to place a hand on the girl's shoulder as she shakes her head. Like Yugi, Lila has a stronger connection to Duel Monsters then most, so even though it's only a hologram, seeing the ultimate dragon like this is really taking it's toll on the girl. Plus it doesn't help that zombies and the like are her second biggest fear "But when the Celtic Guardian takes out another weakened head next turn, that will win Kaiba out and win the match."

"You mean, Kaiba's toast!"

"Yugi. It can't end this way. If I don't defeat you in this duel, Pegasus will keep Mokuba prisoner, forever," at the mention of the long haired boy, Lila's head snaps up and over to Kaiba in concern, that explains it all, he's trying so hard because he wants to get his little brother out of harms way. She can relate to that "I can't let that happen. And even though I don't have a card that can keep you from attacking, I think I still have a strategy that will stop you in your tracks."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to force your hand and win this battle Yugi."

"Looks more like he's retreating to me," Joey comments as Kaiba starts to walk backwards to the edge of the roof "Is this a trick?"

"Yeah. What's he up to?"

"Kaiba!" Yugi shouts as his opponent gets to the edge and steps up onto the tooth shaped parapet "Stop this!"

"What's Kaiba up to now? Does he think this cheap stunt's gonna keep Yugi from winning the match and saving his grandpa?"

"Your move Yugi. You can attack my Blue-Eyes again and wipe out my remaining life points, but if you do, the resulting shock waves might cause me to lose my balance."

"Don't tempt me!"

"My fate is completely in your hands Yugi. You'll decide this duel one way or another. Of course if you don't surrender, I might be hurt. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Stop it Kaiba!" Tea shouts before Lila shouts over her "Kaiba get down from there. If you fall you won't be hurt, you'll be dead! How can you help your brother then?"

"Kaiba's bluffing," Joey brushes off before he snaps at the other boy "Come on, drop this cheap ploy and get down from that ledge and play fair! You know that Yugi doesn't wanna hurt you." Kaiba ducks his head and chuckles softly to himself.

"He knows. He's counting on Yugi to surrender."

"But he can't do that. If he loses to Kaiba, he won't get into the castle."

"I'm warning you Kaiba. Don't push me too far. I must win to rescue my grandfather."

"And I must win this duel to rescue Mokuba. The difference is I'm willing to risk anything to do it. You know I can stand up here all day Yugi. And I'm certain that you won't make any attack for fear that you might knock me off. Even though you know by not attacking, you give up the only chance you have to save your grandpa. Which means I have the advantage over you. For in my case, there's nothing holding me back," Kaiba draws "Ah, a magic card. Reborn The Monster. Which I'll use to resurrect the Blue-Eyes head that was just destroyed by your guardian."

"What? Restore a head of the Blue-Eyes?" through the ashen muck a gleaming, healthy Blue-Eyes emerges with a mighty roar.

"Now one of my Blue-Eyes with it's normal attack points of three thousand has just been reborn. With all of your Kuribohs in defence mode I couldn't touch you, but now that you've put an attack monster on the field, I can take out the rest of your life points. Which I'll do next turn. Two of ultimate dragon's heads are still weakened, but the third can wipe our your guardian in a breath. Our life points are equal Yugi. Strike now if you dare. Otherwise, next turn, I swear I'll take you down. Surrender Yugi. That is unless you have the courage to unleash your attack!" Yugi is quiet for a moment and to those paying closes attention, they can see the flickering in his eyes as he seems to be having some kind of internal debate. Or rather, the spirit and the boy he's bonded to are debating the next move.

"Kaiba, I've never backed away, and I'm not starting now. Celtic Guardian attack!" Lila's eyes widen and her head snaps over to her long time friend. There's no way... he's not actually going through with it! She shakes her head and sprints over to him, seeming to race the elf on his path to the dragon.

"You don't! You can't! You'll kill him! You're not like this! Stop!" her voice seems to knock Yugi out of his frame of mind and just as she reaches him, he's back to the small Yugi, yelling "Stop!" His warrior freezes in place and Lila and Yugi both drop to their knees, the small girl pulling her friend into her eyes as they boy shake. Tea rushes over to see if they're okay can hears Yugi's breaths coming in heavy pants as he buries himself into Lila's shoulder.

"Couldn't do it huh? White lightning attack!" the healthy head fires it's attack and destroys Yugi's monster and his life points, but it doesn't even seem to register with the smaller boy.

"I can't believe it. That underhanded sleazeball wiped Yugi out. Kaiba steps down from the ledge and Lila starts rubbing her friend's back as his shoulders shake with his quiet sobs. She shushes him softly and whispers to him "It's okay. You didn't do it. You're still you." Tea watches the two of them, unsure of what to do to help. She wants to comfort the boy, but how can she when she doesn't understand the full force of what just happened. The boys all call to their friend and hurry over to the crouched pair.

"It's okay man."

"I almost couldn't control it. This other presence deep inside me. He was willing to go all the way against Kaiba!" despite being right next to Lila's ear, he still shouts that last part out, but it doesn't seem the phase the small girl, she keeps her arms around him and let's him cry it out into her oversized t-shirt. The other's don't quite know what to make of what Yugi said, Joey asking "Another presence... inside you?"

"What do you mean? What the heck are you talking about buddy?" as the boys ask this Lila whispers to her crying friend again "But he didn't. You got control back. Kaiba's safe." Seeing the other two in the know aren't really in a position to explain what's going on, Bakura takes the lead "Like me, Yugi has some sort of ancient spirit inside him. It has something to do with out Millennium Items."

"I'm afraid of this spirit inside me. So afraid that I will never duel again!" Tea crouches down at Yugi's side, her own tears spilling down her cheeks as she sees the boy she cares about so torn up "I'm sorry, sorry about your grandpa. But you did the right thing. You couldn't hurt another person, not even to save him." Lila nods in agreement, pulling Yugi tighter as she adds "He wouldn't want you to save him that way."

"Then I guess he got what he wanted," Kaiba's cold voice states over the two soft voiced girls, making them all turn to look at him "If Yugi had done what needed to be done, he would be entering the castle not me. But he was too weak to follow through on his play."

"He spared you!" Tea spits out, rushing to her feet while Lila turn in her hold on Yugi to glare at the taller boy adding "If the compassion and decency to not kill someone is weak then any of us here will take being weak anyday! I feel for you with your brother but you have no right to act this way!"

"Yugi and Lila's compassion are way more then you deserve!" the boys all seem taken back by the venom in Tea's voice as she stares the billionare down with teary blue eyes.

"He lost the game."

"The game? Yugi may have lost one lousy Duel Monsters game, but at least he hasn't lost his heart. Not like you Seto Kaiba! You've spent so much time with your machines, you've forgotten what being human is about." Normally people saying things like this wouldn't effect Kaiba but for some reason Tea words and the hate filled glares of the two girls has him gritting his teeth to bite back a retort. Lila slowly gets to her feet and steps to the slightly taller girls side as Tea continues "Yugi has a heart Kaiba. Yugi has us. Friends that'll stand with him til the end. No matter whether he wins or loses from lousy game. And what do you have Seto Kaiba? What do you have at the end of the day? Tell me. Tell me!" Kaiba growls as he grabs the star chips.

"I have all that I need!" he moves to walk away but Lila ends up in his way, glaring up at him her jade eyes shake slightly before seemingly out of nowhere she pulls her arm back and punches him in the face. He recoils before as soon as he rights himself, ready to yell at the girl, she's back at Yugi's side, hugging him close. She glares at him, daring him to react. He shakes his head and brushes it off, making his way to the castle.

"Yeah, keep fooling yourself Kaiba. Yugi's twice the man you'll ever be."


End file.
